GloryBee Blog

Pollen Project Day 2: How do I eat this?

So breakfast. I thought I would get ahead by pre-soaking the pollen and then pureeing it in the blender with water and psyllium husk to add fiber. Not a bad idea in theory, but when I woke up this morning and went to pour my breakfast into a glass I found that the mix had gelled and made a puree thick enough to stand a spoon in! I spent about 10 minutes trying to mix it enough to get out of the bottle and into a glass. It diluted well enough with some extra water but was a little...textured. I think I’ll be taking the psyllium separately from now on.

After a 6:30AM breakfast, I did not eat lunch until 2:00PM and was not at all hungry in between meals. I usually don’t eat breakfast because I’ll typically be hungry enough to want to snack at my desk (which I try to avoid) before lunch, so I usually fast in the morning. I mixed up my lunch portion of pollen in a mason jar and drank it at my desk, grossing out most of my colleagues in the process. I had a good time.

The rest of the workday passed fairly quickly and I went to the gym afterward. Usually when I go work out late in the afternoon/early evening I take down a shot of pre-workout powder for an energy boost, as the massive dose of caffeine helps make me commit to going and putting in the work. I did heavy deadlifts with good energy throughout and did not experience the same crash-out or extreme hunger afterward that I’ve grown used to. Went home, downed the last of my pollen for the day, and got ready for bed.

Important: Before starting this experiment, Jason carefully coordinated with his health care professional to ensure his own safety and nutritional needs would be met. We always recommend checking with your doctor before making any changes to your lifestyle or diet. We do not recommend pollen as a single source of nutrition.

Pollen Project Day 1: The Journey Begins

First day of the new year, and a good day to try new things. This year, I’m going to do something a little off the wall: seeing how long I can go getting all of my daily nutrition from bee pollen. Now, before you think I’m completely out of my mind I want to say that 1.3lbs of GloryBee Organic Spanish Bee Pollen contains roughly 1,800 calories supplying 140 grams of protein, 260 grams of carbohydrates, and 24 grams of fat. For somebody of my age and size that’s close enough on protein, high on carbs, and low on fat, but it should be enough to keep me in decent nutrition. I will be drinking a cup of coffee in the morning and taking my usual supplements (fish oil, vitamin d3, daily multivitamin, magnesium, and creatine), but my actual food calories are all pollen.

So here I am, bright and early into 2019, wondering what I’m going to do with this big bucket of pollen on the counter. I’ve divided my daily portion into 6 meals, as I think it’ll help to spread all those carbs out over the course of a day. Since I slept in I’m already one meal behind, so I poured a bowl of 200g bee pollen and grabbed a spoon. First lesson learned? Bee pollen is very dense and consuming it requires a LOT of chewing. After realizing I can’t just eat the stuff like cereal, I threw it into a mortar and pestle and tried to make pollen powder. It barely flinched after five minutes of literally smashing it with a rock. I added a bit of water and this helped with the process, so now I’ve got a lump of orangeish paste that smells vaguely cheesy not unlike Cheetos - but tastes like gritty pollen mush, very much unlike Cheetos. I added some water to my next round to give it a pre-soak to see if it’ll break up easier in a couple of hours.

I went to the gym after ‘brunch’ and did some high-volume weightlifting. Energy levels were solid throughout. An interesting side effect was that I was not hungry after the gym like I usually am. Satiety levels were high enough that I had to make myself eat ‘dinner’ several hours afterwards. This experiment is not a ‘diet’ because it’s not a smart or sustainable way to eat in the long-term, so I want to make sure to get in the calories I have planned for myself.

Pre-soaking helps. The pollen more or less dissolves in water and after running it in the blender I could easily quaff a glass of ‘dinner’ without thinking too much about it - I think the biggest challenge in getting through this is going to be mental, as this stuff is not exactly delicious in.

Ruby Red Rosemary Honey Spritzer

Sweetened with honey and made with real grapefruit juice, this ruby red rosemary spritzer is the perfect non-alcoholic drink to get a jump start on your healthy living New Year's Resolutions. Cheers!

Ingredients

2/3 cup GloryBee Raw California Orange Blossom Honey

4 sprigs of rosemary

1 ½ cups ruby red grapefruit juice

Crushed ice

Soda water

Grapefruit slices and rosemary sprigs to garnish

Directions

1. Combine honey and four rosemary sprigs in a small saucepan. Gently heat over low heat until the honey begins to bubble, about 5 minutes. Remove honey from heat and let rosemary steep for an additional 5-10 minutes.

2. Fill glasses with ice. Once honey has cooled a bit, remove rosemary sprigs and transfer honey to a cocktail shaker. Add grapefruit juice and shake until combined.

3. Divide grapefruit and honey mix between the glasses and top each with soda water. Garnish with fresh rosemary sprigs and grapefruit slices.

Baklava: Honey’s most famous pastry

Honey's most famous pastry - Baklava! A classic sweet pastry with honey and nuts and crispy, thin puff pastry dough. Traditional baklava uses pistachios, but you can substitute whatever nut you prefer, such as almonds, hazelnuts or even walnuts.

INGREDIENTS

1/2 lb. - sheets filo dough, frozen

2 cups - blanched almonds, ground

3/4 cup - sugar

1 tsp. - lemon rind, grated

3/4 tsp. - cinnamon, ground

1 cup - unsalted butter, melted

almonds, sliced, for garnish

1/4 cup - sugar

1/4 cup - water

1 cup - GloryBee Organic Raw Clover Blossom honey

1 T - rose water

DIRECTIONS

Thaw filo dough for 8 hours in refrigerator, if frozen. Unfold sheets of filo dough so they lie flat. Cover with waxed paper, then a damp towel, to prevent them from drying out.

Preheat oven to 325°F.

In a medium bowl combine almonds, sugar, lemon rind, and cinnamon. Generously butter an 8- to 9-inch-square pan.

Carefully fold 2 sheets of filo to fit pan; place in pan one at a time, brushing each with butter. Sprinkle about 3 T of the almond mixture over top sheet. Fold 1 sheet of filo to fit pan; brush with butter. Sprinkle evenly with another 3 T almond mixture.

Continue to add layers, using 1 folded sheet of filo, a generous brushing of butter, and 3 to 4 T almond mixture for each, until nut mixture is used up (there should be about 10 nut-filled layers).

Fold remaining 2 to 3 sheets of filo to fit pan. Place on top, brushing each, with butter before adding the next.

With a very sharp knife, carefully cut diagonally across pan to make small diamond shapes--about 1 1/2 inches on a side--cutting all the way to bottom of pan.

Pour on any remaining butter.

Bake until golden brown (about 45 minutes).

Pour warm Honey and Rose Water Syrup over top.

Decorate each piece with an almond slice. Cool before serving.

For Honey and Rose Water Syrup (last four ingredients):

Combine sugar and the water in a 1 1/2-quart saucepan; bring to a boil, stirring. Mix in honey and cook until syrup boils again. Remove from heat; mix in rose water.

Recipe from the National Honey Board.

Pumpkin Spice Breakfast Cookies

We get it: Sometimes you just need a cookie! But you don't have to feel guilty about this cookie - a healthy spin with a pumpkin spice kick. Our Pumpkin Spice Breakfast cookies are a great, whole grain and gluten-free option. And just because they're hearty enough to eat for breakfast, doesn't mean they're lacking in flavor goodness. Try adding some chocolate or coconut chips to the recipe for extra sweetness. Enjoy!

Ingredients

¼ cup Aunt Patty’s Unrefined Virgin Coconut Oil
¼ cup GloryBee SAVE the BEE honey
1 cup rolled old fashioned oats
1 cup quick cooking oats
2/3 cup dried fruit (cranberries, diced dried apples, or diced apricots)
¼ cup ground flaxseed
1 tsp pumpkin pie spice
½ tsp kosher salt
½ cup pumpkin puree, applesauce or pearsauce
2 eggs, beaten

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
2. In a small microwave safe bowl, melt coconut oil in the microwave. Add honey and whisk until incorporated.
3. In a large bowl, combine oats, dried fruit, flaxseed and spices. Mix until well blended. Add honey and coconut mixture along with pumpkin puree and eggs. Combine all ingredients.
4. Scoop out ¼ cup sized cookies and place on lined baking sheet. Gently flatten cookies as they do not flatten while baking. Bake in 350 degree oven for 18-20 minutes until edges of cookies are lightly browned.
5. Let cookies cool on baking sheet, then transfer to an airtight storage container. Cookies will stay fresh for about a week. Enjoy!

Chicken Apple Harvest Salad

Life seems to get hectic and busy around the holiday season. And finding a healthy meal can be tough. But we've got you covered! Anything to help reduce time it takes to make a good meal is a win. We start this recipe with a rotisserie chicken from your favorite grocery store (why spend the time baking a chicken?). The apples and Artisan Fermented Honey create a tart chicken salad that can be eaten atop a salad or on a roll. Enjoy!

Ingredients:

1/3 cup organic mayonnaise

1/3 cup organic plain Greek yogurt

1 Tbls GloryBee Artisan Fermented Honey

¼ cup GloryBee Organic Clover Honey

Salt & Pepper to taste

¾ cup slice almonds, chopped cashews or chopped pecans

4 cups diced organic rotisserie chicken

2 cups diced organic apples (we like Honeycrisp or Fuji apples)

Directions:

1. In a large bowl, combine mayonnaise, yogurt, fermented honey and honey, salt and pepper. Whisk until fully incorporated.

2. Add diced rotisserie chicken, apples and nuts to dressing. Refrigerate for at least an hour to chill and allow all the flavors to blend.

3. Serve chicken salad atop a bed of greens, in a vegetable wrap or as an appetizer with your favorite crackers. Enjoy!

Pumpkin Honey Cheesecake

How much pumpkin spice honey is too much?? As far as we can tell, it isn't possible to have too much! We worked our new pumpkin spice into nearly every part of this cheesecake, and it came out amazing. Try it out!

Pumpkin Cheesecake

Filling:
4 packages (8 oz each) softened organic cream cheese
½ cup GloryBee Pumpkin Spice Honey
¼ cup organic brown sugar
1 cup of organic pumpkin puree
1 ½ Tbsp pumpkin pie spice
2 Tbsp organic heavy whipping cream
4 large organic eggs
1 tsp vanilla

Directions:
Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

In a large mixing bowl, combine with a hand blender softened cream cheese, pumpkin puree, pumpkin pie spice, brown sugar, honey and vanilla, beating just until smooth.

Add eggs one at a time to the cream cheese mixture. Mix until well blended and then pour into prepared pie crust.

Wrap the bottom of the spring form pan in foil. You may need to apply several layers of foil to provide even coverage. Place spring form pan in a large roasting pan in the oven. Fill the roasting pan with water until it reaches 1 inch up the sides of the pan.

Bake for 1 hour and 15 minutes or until a knife inserted comes out clean. Remove cheesecake from oven and cool thoroughly.

Sage Browned Butter Sauce Topping:

Ingredients:
¼ cup organic unsalted butter
2 Tbsp GloryBee Pumpkin Spice Honey
1 tsp organic brown sugar
2 Tbsp organic heavy whipping cream
1 Tbsp finely chopped fresh sage
1 tsp vanilla extract

Directions:
Heat butter, sugar and honey in a small saucepan over medium high heat, stirring constantly until the butter begins to brown.

Reduce heat to medium. Stir in whipping cream, sage and vanilla. Simmer until sauce begins to thicken, about 2-3 minutes.

Cool brown butter sauce completely and spread over cooled cheesecake.

All Natural Whipped Cream

Ingredients:
1 cup of organic heavy whipping cream
1 tsp vanilla extract
¼ cup mild raw honey (Montana White Clover, Clover, etc).

Directions:
In a cold bowl and by using the hand mixer, whisk all ingredients on a low speed until stiff peaks form. Do not over mix. Use whipped cream as a topping for Pumpkin Cheesecake.

GloryBee Honored With Social Impact Award

GloryBee is thrilled to be recognized with the Social Impact Award by the Register Guard's Innovation and Talent Celebration for our Save the Bee Initiative, which raises money to assist research, education, and awareness about the plight of honey bees and what can be done to help. It is a high honor to be recognized by the local community alongside so many others who are making a difference and to be able to celebrate the accomplishments and innovations in Lane County.

From the Register Guard:

Throughout its 44 years, GloryBee has stayed true to its core value of serving as a good steward for people and for Earth. Bees, especially, are at the forefront of this stewardship; colony collapse disorder, however, has threatened these all-important pollinators. GloryBee president Alan Turanski says “it’s not enough to be in the industry and sell honey and beekeeping supplies. We need to be doing more.” The Save the Bee initiative launched in 2012; GloryBee donates 1 percent of its beekeeping and honey sales to Save the Bee nonprofit organizations. With more than 50 partners presently, the initiative raised more than $316,000 in 2017. Funds raised assist Oregon State University and Washington State University honey bee labs with research. Money also funds education and awareness efforts to protect bees and maintain healthy colonies. “The most important thing for us is to be a force of good,” Turanski says.

“Glory Bee is the kind of entrepreneurial success story we celebrate for value beyond the bottom line. To grow a garage-based start-up into a thriving business is no easy task. To also create and drive initiatives of relevant socio-economic impact while doing so requires extraordinary ingenuity. It happens only with clarity in vision and mission, creative solutions to uncommon challenges, and comes only with a personal commitment to something greater than oneself.”

Thank you to our community for the support! View the Register Guard Article here.

GloryBee Increases B Corp Score

GloryBee recertified as a B Corp in 2018, and our scores have just come in. We improved by 20%! Our new score is 100.8.

Becoming a B Corp is no small feat – we first had to pass a 200 point assessment with over 80 points to be invited to join. To become a B Corp, GloryBee was tested on topics such as governance structure, worker safety, environmental impact, and sustainable supply chain actions, diversity of employees, benefits and compensation, and community impact.

As a company, GloryBee scored particularly well in community impact and environmental practices. Since becoming certified in 2016, GloryBee has taken some great leaps in sustainability.

GloryBee B Corp projects have included:

Implementing annual diversity, inclusion and implicit bias training for all employees.
A total of 13 employees attended two B Corp conferences and 3 B Corp Leadership Development workshops.
Gained new partnerships supporting SAVE the BEE; Winderlea, Sokol Blosser, and Hopworks to name a few.
Creating a supplier code of conduct that includes environmental and social practices.
Creating a stakeholder survey that asks for feedback on our programs such as Save the Bee and Food 4 Health.
Started a bulk buy program for employees.
Increasing participation in community stewardship activities by encouraging employees to utilize their 4 hours of paid community service.
Measuring and reducing water use, energy use, and greenhouse gas emissions.
Locked our mission into our articles of incorporation.

B Corps are businesses that are working together to create a better world, using business as a force for good. Becoming a B Corp in 2016 helped GloryBee meet our goals and move along the path to being a force for good

Entomology Today: Hygienic Brood Behavior Keeps the Hive Alive

In the last 40 years, honey bee populations have been declining at an alarming rate. One out of every three bites of food Americans consume comes from a plant visited by bees or other pollinators and our food supply is dependent on their wellbeing. In 2012, we started our Save the Bee initiative, which funds research and education about honeybee health. Luckily for us, a new study shows bees are also trying to save themselves.

An excerpt from Entomology Today:

"Over the past few decades, numerous hygienic honey bee stocks have been selectively bred and studied. However, much of the hygiene-related research has focused on the detection capabilities of adult bees; we now know that adults from hygienic stocks are more sensitive to diseased brood odors than adults from unselected stocks. But does honey bee brood (larvae and pupae) also contribute to hygienic behavior? We decided to find out.

In our new study published last week in the Journal of Economic Entomology, we provide evidence that brood signaling in the European honey bee (Apis mellifera) plays a significant role in triggering hygienic behavior. To test the role of brood in hygiene communication, we quantified the removal of parasite-infested brood, cross-fostered between colonies with distinct breeding backgrounds. Our cross-fostering approach allowed us to disentangle the relative contributions of adult detection and brood signaling to hygienic behavior.

In short, we found that parasite-infested brood from hygienically selected colonies was more likely to be removed than brood from unselected colonies, regardless of where the brood was fostered. This suggests that hygienic brood more effectively signals stress, triggering its own removal for the good of the colony. The idea that altruism at the individual level may contribute to survival at the colony level is consistent with evidence of brood susceptibility and colony resistance to parasites in the Asian honey bee (Apis cerana).

Our study’s findings may have major implications for our understanding of intracolonial communication of social insects, as well as for honey bee management and breeding strategies..."

The bees are hard at work on their own health, but they still need our help!

Read the whole article here

Chewy Ginger Molasses Cookies

We love a good cookie! We've updated a classic with our Chewy Ginger Molasses cookie. By using spelt flour, the cookie takes on a nutty, complex flavor that's sweeter and lighter than that of whole wheat flour cookie. Make it your own by adding more candied ginger and leaving out the chocolate. This will be a spicy cookie your friends and family will be reaching out for more! Enjoy!

Ingredients

Ginger molasses cookies on table in bowl

2 cups spelt flour (we like Bob's Red Mill Spelt Flour)

1 tablespoon ground ginger

1 teaspoon baking soda

½ teaspoon salt

1 stick unsalted butter, melted

½ cup sugar

¼ cup Aunt Patty's Blackstrap Molasses

1” piece fresh ginger, peeled and grated

1 egg

½ cup candied ginger, finely chopped

4 ounces bittersweet chocolate, finely chopped

½ cup turbinado (raw) sugar

Directions

1. In a large bowl, whisk together flour, ground ginger, baking soda, and salt. In a medium bowl, whisk together butter, sugar, molasses, fresh ginger, and egg. Stir wet ingredients into dry ingredients until almost combined. Stir in candied ginger and chocolate. Cover and refrigerate dough for 30 minutes.

2. Preheat oven to 350℉. Line 2 large baking sheets with parchment paper.

3. With a tablespoon measure, scoop dough, roll into balls, and roll in turbinado sugar before placing on baking sheets, leaving 1” between cookies.

4. Bake cookies, rotating the pans halfway through baking, until browned and cracked on top, 12-16 minutes. Transfer cookies to a rack to cool completely.

Apple Carrot Breakfast Muffins

To alleviate all the stress that mornings without breakfast can bring, you need to meal prep, these grab-and-go breakfast muffins. Taking a few minutes to plan a healthy, satisfying breakfast for the week will make a big difference in your morning game. Now, where's my coffee??

Ingredients

1½ cups all-purpose flour

1 cup whole wheat flour

2 teaspoons baking powder

1 teaspoon cinnamon

½ teaspoon ginger

½ teaspoon fine sea salt

1¾ cups milk or nondairy milk

⅓ cup Aunt Patty’sⓇ Date Sugar

¼ cup Aunt Patty’sⓇ Virgin Coconut Oil, melted

1 egg

1 medium tart apple, cored and grated (about 1 cup)

1 large carrot, grated (about 1 cup)

½ cup golden raisins

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 375℉. Spray 2 standard 12-cup muffin tins with cooking spray or line with paper muffin liners.

2. In a medium bowl whisk flour, whole wheat flour, baking powder, cinnamon, ginger, and salt. In a large bowl whisk milk, sugar, oil, and egg. Stir in apple, carrot, and raisins, then dry ingredients and mix until combined.

3. Divide batter between 15 muffin cups (or bake in 2 batches if you only have 1 muffin tin) and bake until browned and set, 20-25 minutes. Let cool in pan for 5 minutes, then transfer to a rack to cool completely.