Sarasota Honey Co. November Newsletter : LWR Market, Honey Tours, New Honey, Special Video 4 Kids

Honey, we will BEE at the Lakewood Ranch Farmers Market, New Marshmallow Honey, Honey Tours are Back, and a Special Video for the Kids by Planet Peek A Boo!!

We are please to announce we WILL BEE at the Lakewood Ranch Farmers Market this season! Your Sunday tradition returns! Fill your shopping bags for the week every Sunday, Nov-April, 10am-2pm in the parking lot of Lakewood Ranch Medical Center.

The market has been re-formatted with social distancing in mind. Masks are encouraged. Available products include seafood, eggs, chicken, duck, turkey, milk, cheese, bread, butter, cold-pressed juices, jams & pickled deliciousness, fresh pasta, ready-to-eat foods, soap, truffle oils, mushrooms, popcorn, gulf sea salt, and of course raw local honey from Lakewood Ranch by Sarasota Honey Company!!!

We strategically place our hives in residential backyards to bring you the most local honey around. This year we are booth 37 which located at the back of the market next to Yum Yum Produce. The best way to find us, is to go in the market main entrance that will have two information tents. Go straight down the center aisle, which will most likely have Fermentlicious will be on the left and Coastal Clay on the right at the entrance. At the end of the center aisle is the Yum Yum Produce…we right next to them on the right. If for some reason the vendors that we listed as landmarks on the map are not there don’t fret. Just go down the center aisle, feel free to text us if you need help finding us: 941.726.8755. We hope you buzz in to see us! Please check out the map below:

The Buzz from Busy Bee Jess: Earlier this month, I was so excited about this honey that I released a Mid-Month Newsletter. While on a business trip, our Queen Bee discovered a honey that blew our minds called Meadowfoam. It was soo unique that we that we thought it would be fun to offer it at the store.

Unfortunately, we were told it is sold before it is harvested to gourmet chefs and high-end honey retailers like Sarvanana Bee Company. It ridiculously hard to find and expensive to ship. Feeling disappointed I reported my findings to our Queen Bee via Facetime. Unfazed she said “Ok! I gotta go.” After the call ended, my mom commented, “You know where Alma’s is going right?” I commented, “To get that honey.” A few weeks later, our Queen Bee left me a voicemail, “Hey Jess, you remember that honey that they said was hard to find… I got it…love ya!”

So what makes this honey so unique?

Meadowfoam honey has a distinctive taste many describe as “toasted marshmallow”, and a delightful vanilla-like aroma… that is the experience of Meadowfoam Honey.

It just melts in your mouth.

Whip it with soft butter for a delicious spread on biscuits, toast or warm bread. Stir into hot cereal, or hot tea. Sprinkle cinnamon, nutmeg into Meadowfoam honey for a delicious ice cream topping. A “dessert” honey extraordinaire!

Where is Meadowfoam honey come from?

Meadowfoam is a plant native annual herb to the Pacific Northwest. Meadowfoam is aptly named for its appearance of foam on the ocean waves when fields are in full bloom. Meadowfoam is grown primarily for oil production used by the

cosmetic industry. The vibrant white blossoms are stunning and can catch your eye from miles away. When in bloom the fields look like someone has rolled out a giant white carpet, as if there were a few feet of clouds lying on the ground you could walk out on. As stunning as the blossoms are, what is inside them is even more amazing. Meadowfoam blossoms hold inside a highly sought after nectar that the bees find irresistible. This honey is hard to keep in stock, so be sure to get it while you can! All of our honeys are raw, natural, and pure, but this one is just something special.

(Picture below was taken prior to Covid)

We are starting our Honey Tours Again!!

This year our tours will be completely outside on starting November, which you can now register and call us to schedule. Space will be limited. Face masks will be required, kids that wear facemasks will get to pick a prize from the queen bee prize box. We are limiting the number to 10 guests and no more than 3 “bubbles.” per tour. We can accommodate more people if their “bubble” is larger. For safety reasons we are trying to keep “bubble” groups separated and only a certain number of people will be allowed in the gift shop at a time. We are currently working on our pollinator friendly garden and expanding the bee village. We have some new exotic birds and currently grown our flock in the garden. The bees have been installed into their completed bee village buildings courtesy of students from Ringling School of Art and Design.

How to register for a tour? You can now register for a tour by texting or calling 941.726.8755. Please provide your name, number of adults/kids, contact info and 2 dates you would be available to attend. Tours will be available on Tuesdays, Fridays, Saturdays. Tours are $6 per adult and $2 per child under 12 years old. We customize your tour to cover topics of your choice. When it comes to honey, products of the hive, and bees there so many to topics that we can cover! Tour includes presentation, private sampling, goodie bag for the kids and special discounts of products or gift in our store for adults. Refunds/rescheduling of a tour will only be allowed for reasons such as weather or honeybee temperament.

Why are we now taking payment for tours? In the past we would take reservations for our free tour with no fee and people would not show up. This was not fair to our team coming in early to set things up for the tour or to those customers we turned away. So, we did away with reservations and made it first come first serve; the result was never knowing if we were going to have 5 people show up or 40 people. To ensure the safety of our team and customers we felt a paid scheduled reservation was the best option. This way the fee could at minimum cover our costs in making your experience special and safe. Special discounts and goodie bag per child will be offered to participants.

Sarasota Honey Company and Planet Peek - A- Boo!

The store was of a fun buzz when we had a special visit with Lillaquin of Planet Peek A Boo! Planet Peek-A-Boo Live Show is a musically based interactive, live action animation/ learning/ entertainment show for young children ages two and up. They "Peek into learning!" This month they Peeked into learning about BEES! Check out the fun video below and bee sure to share!

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