September Newsletter: World Bee Day, Rosh Hashanah Symbolism & Gifts, Honey Applebutter Recipe.

WORLD HONEY BEE DAY

World Honey Bee Day on the third Saturday in August brings a buzzing celebration for beekeepers, honey lovers, and all blooming things. The day recognizes both the honey bee and the beekeepers who tend the hives. It also encourages everyone to enjoy and buy locally grown honey and education on how to help save the bees.Another important part of the day includes learning about honey bees and providing them with a supportive environment. When we plant wildflowers, orchards, and other flowering plants, we support pollinators such as honey bees. They depend on the nectar of a variety of plants for their survival. Conversely, we depend on honeybees for our survival, too! Without their pollinating abilities, many nutritious plants wouldn’t reproduce.

HOW TO OBSERVE #WorldHoneyBeeDay

Collect and spread local wildflower seeds to promote honey bee pollination.
Flavors of honey vary depending on the variety of flowers and nectar available to the bees.
Clover, alfalfa, palm trees, orange, local wildflowers and are just a few to choose from.
Replace your usual sweetener with honey for the day. Taste the difference!
Give the gift of honey to a friend, neighbor, co-worker or family member.
Don’t spray nuisance feral beehives. What many people don’t know is that they are not only killing the nuisance hive but all the neighboring hives as well! Bee are opportunist and will raid the honey and pollen of a recently sprayed hive. They don’t know the honey and pollen has poison and will feed it to their colony…killing everyone!!!
Consider becoming a beekeeper. The commitment for a hobby beekeeper is 15 mins every 14-21 days! Sarasota Honey Company sells starter hives called nucs and offer webinars, consultation and free videos on our Youtube channel. We are committed to set you up for success!
Every Tuesday watch and share SHC “Tuesday Talks” on Facebook Live (videos will become available on our YouTube channel). Alma answers questions about honeybees and shares all kinds of educational tidbits about the environment, bees, agriculture, homesteading and local food.

What is Rosh Hashanah?

Rosh Hashanah is the celebration of the Jewish New Year. It’s a very important holiday on the Jewish calendar. It is the first of what is called the High Holidays (or High Holy Days), a ten-day period that ends with Yom Kippur—the holiest day of the Jewish year. Rosh Hashanah, ushers in the beginning of the Jewish year and is a holiday that celebrates the creation of the world, something that’s reflected in its name, which means “head of the year” in Hebrew. Rosh Hashanah is two days long, this year it is celebrated sunset September 6th - September 10th at nightfall.

Eating Festive Meals, Including Sweet Delicacies and Symbolic Foods

While challah bread is eaten for many other occasions (including the weekly Shabbat dinner), it’s tradition to eat round challah during Rosh Hashanah. The unique circular shape symbolizes the cyclical nature of life, as well as the crown of God. Raisins are often added to the dough to symbolize the hope for a sweet new year, as is the practice of dipping the bread into honey instead of salt. Sweetness for a sweet and happy new year is also why many people eat apple slices dipped in honey at the start of a Rosh Hashanah meal, one of the holiday’s most famous practices. We love the Sarasota Honey Co. Organic Fig and Pecan spread on our challah!

What is the symbolism of the apple and honey?

The apple symbolizes Gan Eden (the Garden of Eden), which according to the Midrash has the scent of an apple orchard, and in Kabbalah is called “the holy apple orchard.” When Isaac commented regarding his son Jacob, “Behold, the fragrance of my son is like the fragrance of a field, which the Lord has blessed” (Genesis 27:27), the biblical commentator explains that this refers to the scent of an apple orchard, the scent of Gan Eden.

Furthermore, when Solomon depicts the love God harbors for His nation, he writes (Song of Songs 8:5): “Beneath the apple tree I aroused you[r love].” Eating an apple on Rosh Hashanah is an attempt to remind God of our age-old love.

To some the honey relates is that it symbolizes the dual role of bees—feared for their sting, but prized for the sweetness they provide—reminiscent of the image of a stern but merciful creator. Others believe the honey signifies the hope that the new year will be sweet.

Wishing Someone Shanna Tova

Those observing Rosh Hashanah often greet one another with the Hebrew phrase, “shana tova” or “l’shana tova,” meaning “good year” or “for a good year.” According to History.com, this is a “shortened version of the Rosh Hashanah salutation ‘L’shanah tovah tikatev v’taihatem’ (‘May you be inscribed and sealed for a good year’).”