# Walgreen's Honey



## Dawgluver (Jan 17, 2012)

Standing at the checkout counter, a lady in front of me had 4 bottles of Walgreens honey, and the 2 clerks were talking about how CBS and others rated WG honey as best tasting and very pure.  I almost turned around and bought some.  Oh, and the lady had a $4 off coupon.  Anyone else hear about this?


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## chopper (Jan 17, 2012)

No.  Now I need to check put that Walgreen's honey.


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## GLC (Jan 17, 2012)

Walgreen's, as in the drug store? When Texas A&M University tested honeys bought from a variety of stores, Walgreen's was one of those in which 100% of the honey on their shelves had no pollen whatsoever. Specifically, Walgreen's MEL-O Honey was one of them. Pollen is only removed with ultrafiltration. The bottlers say that's done to improve shelf life, but standard filtration removes debris, bee parts, etc. and is all that is needed. An industry expert says the only reason to remove pollen is to remove the ability to test to identify honey from places where it might be questionable, meaning China. Conscientious makers use pollen testing to weed out honey that has been transshipped through a third country, and they won't buy honey that has had the pollen removed, because Chinese honey is sometimes sent through another country where the pollen is filtered out before moving to the U.S.  Like so much from China, including the orange concentrate in orange "juice," their honey may be chemically corrupt and may contain various animal antibiotics. Walgreen's and most other drug and grocery chains refuse to say where their honey comes from. But there's only one reason to spend the extra money on ultrafiltration. Busy Bee and Sue Bee are also sans pollen. Even Winnie the Pooh brand is suspect. Honey is a dirty business. Many specialty honeys are found to be falsely labeled. FDA does not police honey. Buy local.


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## PrincessFiona60 (Jan 17, 2012)

I always buy local honey, best way to overcome local allergies to pollen, etc.


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## cmontg34 (Jan 17, 2012)

I heard the same thing as GLC. Most supermarket brands are just as bad. I suggest buying local or organic honey as well.


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## Dawgluver (Jan 17, 2012)

Hmm.  Well, I like pollen in my honey too, and certainly don't mind the occasional bee part.  I have a big enough collection of honey  that I don't need any right now, but thought the conversation was interesting.  Will have to look at the label next time I'm in WG to check if it's sourced.


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## taxlady (Jan 17, 2012)

Dawgluver said:


> Hmm.  Well, I like pollen in my honey too, and certainly don't mind the occasional bee part.  I have a big enough collection of honey  that I don't need any right now, but thought the conversation was interesting.  Will have to look at the label next time I'm in WG to check if it's sourced.



Maybe they thought that ultra-filtered was better. You know, no icky pollen


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## Greg Who Cooks (Jan 17, 2012)

GLC said:


> Walgreen's, as in the drug store? When Texas A&M University tested honeys bought from a variety of stores, Walgreen's was one of those in which 100% of the honey on their shelves had no pollen whatsoever. Specifically, Walgreen's MEL-O Honey was one of them. Pollen is only removed with ultrafiltration. The bottlers say that's done to improve shelf life, but standard filtration removes debris, bee parts, etc. and is all that is needed. An industry expert says the only reason to remove pollen is to remove the ability to test to identify honey from places where it might be questionable, meaning China. Conscientious makers use pollen testing to weed out honey that has been transshipped through a third country, and they won't buy honey that has had the pollen removed, because Chinese honey is sometimes sent through another country where the pollen is filtered out before moving to the U.S.  Like so much from China, including the orange concentrate in orange "juice," their honey may be chemically corrupt and may contain various animal antibiotics. Walgreen's and most other drug and grocery chains refuse to say where their honey comes from. But there's only one reason to spend the extra money on ultrafiltration. Busy Bee and Sue Bee are also sans pollen. Even Winnie the Pooh brand is suspect. Honey is a dirty business. Many specialty honeys are found to be falsely labeled. FDA does not police honey. Buy local.



Wow. Just wow. I never gave this subject any thought. I thought honey was just honey. You've given me a lot to think about.

Lately I've been getting my honey from Trader Joe's Market. They usually identify the origin of all their products of this type. My most recent purchase is TJ's 100% Desert Mesquite Honey "From the Desert of Northern Mexico."

I've had just about enough of China. It's clear that their government and their manufacturers don't care a bit about their own people, and never mind what they care about overseas customers.

You can be sure I'll check the origin of my honey after reading this topic, and I won't ever buy a thing anymore unless it comes from what I consider a reputable market. Not China for sure.


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## Dawgluver (Jan 17, 2012)

Gourmet Greg said:
			
		

> Wow. Just wow. I never gave this subject any thought. I thought honey was just honey. You've given me a lot to think about.
> 
> Lately I've been getting my honey from Trader Joe's Market. They usually identify the origin of all their products of this type. My most recent purchase is TJ's 100% Desert Mesquite Honey "From the Desert of Northern Mexico."
> 
> ...



I've been trying to find Yucatan honey from Mexico for several years.  I wouldn't be afraid of Mexican honey, reputed to be some of the best.  Unfortunately, it's sometimes bottled in (sterile) old pop bottles and jars, and confiscated at the US border.

Chinese honey, well, not so much.  Good info!


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## PrincessFiona60 (Jan 17, 2012)

Many local Apiaries are run by kids in 4-H, your purchase of local honey helps them continue their projects and the world needs more honey bees!


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## taxlady (Jan 18, 2012)

PrincessFiona60 said:


> Many local Apiaries are run by kids in 4-H, your purchase of local honey helps them continue their projects and the world needs more honey bees!



You just had to go and remind me about needing more bees. Is there any good news about those bee die-offs we have been experiencing for the last few years?


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## Zereh (Jan 18, 2012)

LA Times

Food Safety News


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## Aunt Bea (Jan 18, 2012)

If you see a price that is too good to be true, check the ingredients.  In my area some stores are now selling a honey flavored corn syrup with cute names in bear shaped bottles.  It just ain't right I tell ya!


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## Rob Babcock (Jan 18, 2012)

Once you remove all the pollen, the remaining liquid can scarcely be considered honey any longer.  The only reason that ultra-filtration is used is to disguise Chinese honey.  Buying organic and/or from a trustworthy (and hopefully local) source is the way to go.


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## Claire (Jan 18, 2012)

The thing with the "Icky Pollen" is that for some people the pollen IS the reason for going with local honey.  For some people with allergies, that dab of pollen acts as a sort of way of building resistance.  Or so I've been told.  When I heard that I started looking at honeys when I bought and tried to find them as close to the source as possible.  We don't sweeten much in this house; a bag of sugar lasts from Christmas party to Christmas party (used in eggnog).  Luckily (!!!) I have a friend who's a beekeeper.  So now my honey comes from only a mile or so from my house.  Mostly I  use it to sweeten hot tea and in salad dressings, so a little goes a long way.  Beekeeper buddy says she's heard about the allergy-relieving qualities of buying local honey, but won't lay any health claims (smart gal!) on hers, just that it's good stuff.  THAT I can attest to.  I buy it because I like her and do like to support local businesses when feasible.  She brought me my year's supply of honey for Christmas, and a bottle of her husband's latest endeavor, a nice, dry red wine.  I think she's got a future there.


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## bakechef (Jan 18, 2012)

Gourmet Greg said:


> Wow. Just wow. I never gave this subject any thought. I thought honey was just honey. You've given me a lot to think about.
> 
> Lately I've been getting my honey from Trader Joe's Market. They usually identify the origin of all their products of this type. My most recent purchase is TJ's 100% Desert Mesquite Honey "From the Desert of Northern Mexico."
> 
> ...



I'm working on finishing a bottle of Desert Mesquite Honey, and it is really good, quite flavorful.

I have 2 jars of honey from an apple orchard near my mom's house in Maine and a jar from a friend who's sister has bee hives, so I'm set for a while.  I like local honey and when I travel I like to buy a jar of honey, it's fun to taste all of the different flavors you can get from honey depending where it is from!


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## taxlady (Jan 18, 2012)

Why is some honey pasteurized? Honey is naturally sterile.


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## CWS4322 (Jan 18, 2012)

taxlady said:


> Why is some honey pasteurized? Honey is naturally sterile.


Probably some government regulation...


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## taxlady (Jan 18, 2012)

CWS4322 said:


> Probably some government regulation...



I don't think so. The good stuff isn't pasteurized.

I bought some Life Brand (Pharmaprix/Shopper's Drugmart store brand) honey. It has honey from Canada, Australia, and Argentina. The odd thing, which I noticed when I got it home: it's packaged in Australia! The Canadian honey has been across the Pacific twice! That's just wrong.

But it isn't pasteurized. I checked for that.


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## cmontg34 (Jan 18, 2012)

Well Taxlady, the last I heard on the CCD(colony collapse disorder) front is that they may have found a tangible cause as to why it happens. For the longest time they just attributed it to pollution and disease, but now they have found that it may be the work of parasitic flies that take control of the actual bodies of the bees. Yuck. Here's a link to an article about it: Zombies May Be The Reason for Colony Collapse Disorder - Technorati Lifestyle
Also I recommend watching Colony, a wonderful documentary on the subject.


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## Addie (Jan 18, 2012)

And I thought I was EVERYBODY'S honey!


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## GLC (Jan 18, 2012)

taxlady said:


> I bought some Life Brand (Pharmaprix/Shopper's Drugmart store brand) honey. It has honey from Canada, Australia, and Argentina. The odd thing, which I noticed when I got it home: it's packaged in Australia! The Canadian honey has been across the Pacific twice! That's just wrong.



Makes you think about all those people involved in shipping honey back and forth. "Where haven't we shipped it yet? How about Mongolia. We've never sent any through Mongolia.  Mongolia it is."

Actually, Argentina is apparently a major producer and one that can be seen as reliable or as suspected of laundrying Chinese honey, depending on who you talk to. It's a pretty interesting business. Big-time international trade in what you kind of think of as a simple product that doesn't move far. I can see why, now. Bulk per pound price last October from $1.17 (Mexico) to about $1.69.  Wholesale unit price of $3.88 and retail unit price of $5.23.  That's enough room for plenty of profit, and there's enough volume for it to be big money. Not bad for bee vomit. 

And it gets dirtier the more you read about it. Like the individual Scottish beekeeper caught passing Argentine honey off as local border honey. (So much for buying local.) And apparently a few years ago, Singapore suddenly became a honey producer. Except that they have no bees. And the habit of one place being discovered to be a transhipment laundering point and the operation moving to somewhere else in the world until it's discovered there. They're like drug lords, just more mobile and in no danger of going to jail. (Wouldn't be surprised, though, if there hadn't been some killings.) And a Texas beekeeper commenting that the honey industry "big boys" were too big for the government to take on.


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## Chief Longwind Of The North (Jan 18, 2012)

GLC said:


> Walgreen's, as in the drug store? When Texas A&M University tested honeys bought from a variety of stores, Walgreen's was one of those in which 100% of the honey on their shelves had no pollen whatsoever. Specifically, Walgreen's MEL-O Honey was one of them. Pollen is only removed with ultrafiltration. The bottlers say that's done to improve shelf life, but standard filtration removes debris, bee parts, etc. and is all that is needed. An industry expert says the only reason to remove pollen is to remove the ability to test to identify honey from places where it might be questionable, meaning China. Conscientious makers use pollen testing to weed out honey that has been transshipped through a third country, and they won't buy honey that has had the pollen removed, because Chinese honey is sometimes sent through another country where the pollen is filtered out before moving to the U.S. Like so much from China, including the orange concentrate in orange "juice," their honey may be chemically corrupt and may contain various animal antibiotics. Walgreen's and most other drug and grocery chains refuse to say where their honey comes from. But there's only one reason to spend the extra money on ultrafiltration. Busy Bee and Sue Bee are also sans pollen. Even Winnie the Pooh brand is suspect. Honey is a dirty business. Many specialty honeys are found to be falsely labeled. FDA does not police honey. Buy local.


 
Honey is being tested by Various health aganecies for its anticeptic properties.  Certain honeys (from specific geographical regions) has been found to have quite good anticeptic properties.  That being said, once the honey is identified by region, it is ultra-filtered to remove pollin and debris, to insure that no allergens are present that could exacerbate the wound and deminish the ability of the honey to fight nasty organizms.  According to the Australian study that I read, honey will treat antibiotic resistant organisms such as berer (sp).  

I'm sure that Wallgreen's honey isn't being used for the testing however.  Just a bit more information for everyone to chew on.

Seeeeeeay; Chief Longwind fo the North


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## JoshuaNY (Jan 18, 2012)

I dont have all that much to add. Just wanted to throw my name in the hat for buying locally. Id be worried about the no pollen thing.

Plus bee parts are a good source of lean protein


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## Chief Longwind Of The North (Jan 18, 2012)

I have a good freind who is a bee-keeper.  No worries here.  I have a ready supply of absolutely local honey.

Seeeeeya; Chief Longwind fo the North


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## Greg Who Cooks (Jan 18, 2012)

I'm going to continue buying my honey from Trader Joe's Market because I trust them and because they say what region their honey comes from.


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## Addie (Jan 18, 2012)

Another good place to get local honey is at your County Fairs. They usually have a bee keeper site and stand. the owner is only too happy to give you his card so you can get his honey right there on his farm. Stock up while you are there. At our fair in Topsfield, there are two beekeepers that give hourly demonstrations of how the honey is extracted and then bottled right in front of you. Then it goes up for sale. You just have to wait for it to be bottled. They will even tell you if it is clover, lilac, etc honey. 

I had my fill of honey as a kid.


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## GLC (Jan 18, 2012)

Gourmet Greg said:


> I'm going to continue buying my honey from Trader Joe's Market because I trust them and because they say what region their honey comes from.



You'll be glad to know Trader Joe's was one brand where all their honey had the appropriate amount of pollen. That suggests their supplier isn't trying to hide something.


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## Greg Who Cooks (Jan 18, 2012)

Trader Joe's is pretty picky about their suppliers. They aren't your usual supermarket chain. They've been working for years on building customer good will and confidence. They particularly try to bring their customers something special at reasonable prices, and IMO they're succeeding. They aren't in all 50 states but they've been adding new territory very rapidly.


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## GLC (Jan 18, 2012)

They're in "coming soon" mode in Dallas, Fort Worth, and Spring (Houston), and they've scouted Austin and no doubt will get there quickly.  They'll be head to head with Whole Foods and Central Market, the Whole Food-like operation of the Texas HEB chain. I would bet a small sum that they will come into East Austin in the area where the former airport was converted into a medium up-scale and up-scale neighborhood. There was a lot of interest last May when the story was in the Austin paper.


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## Greg Who Cooks (Jan 18, 2012)

GLC I think you're exactly right because medium up-scale and up-scale is exactly TJ's style. They won't be head-to-head with WFM either because TJ's prices are better. That's one of TJ's attractions, good stuff but at more reasonable prices. One part I really like is TJ's huge wine selection at reasonable prices.

I still shop at WFM for specific items but TJ's got most of the stuff I like. Things are even better when I get my vegetables and seafood at Asian and Latino markets.


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## chopper (Jan 18, 2012)

I bought some local "chocolate orange honey dip" that I need to use. It is SO good!  I am thinking warm over ice cream.


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## Claire (Jan 19, 2012)

Aunt Bea said:


> If you see a price that is too good to be true, check the ingredients.  In my area some stores are now selling a honey flavored corn syrup with cute names in bear shaped bottles.  It just ain't right I tell ya!



I had this happen with olive oil.  I picked up a store brand from curiousity.  It looked like olive oil.  It said Extra Virgin.  It tasted like your regular cooking oil.  Put on my magnifiers and read the label.  It was something like 2% olive oil, the rest regular vegetable oil.


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## bakechef (Jan 19, 2012)

Claire said:


> I had this happen with olive oil.  I picked up a store brand from curiousity.  It looked like olive oil.  It said Extra Virgin.  It tasted like your regular cooking oil.  Put on my magnifiers and read the label.  It was something like 2% olive oil, the rest regular vegetable oil.



I've been seeing that pop up more and more, first in closeout/discount stores like Ollie's and Big Lots, usually with very deceptive labels, now I am seeing it more in regular grocery stores.  The stuff in grocery stores isn't quite as deceptive, but they do put Extra Virgin in large letters and "blend" in much smaller ones.  The ones in closeout stores often have labels that look very much like popular brand names like Colovita and Bertoli.


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## GLC (Jan 19, 2012)

Here's the results of actual testing. And that's just the ones that were recognized brands that made clear statements on the label. No telling what they would have found in the off brands with trick labels. They didn't test for actual origins, and I'm not sure they can do that (like testing pollen in honey) or if they can detect the extraction method. But considering that the standards for olive oil have been in place in one for or another for a long time, it's pretty telling when so many fail in so many ways. We really haven't come as far we would like to think from the brick-dust-in-flour and fake tea Victorian days. 

http://olivecenter.ucdavis.edu/files/report%20041211%20final%20reduced.pdf


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## taxlady (Jan 19, 2012)

GLC said:


> Here's the results of actual testing. And that's just the ones that were recognized brands that made clear statements on the label. No telling what they would have found in the off brands with trick labels. They didn't test for actual origins, and I'm not sure they can do that (like testing pollen in honey) or if they can detect the extraction method. But considering that the standards for olive oil have been in place in one for or another for a long time, it's pretty telling when so many fail in so many ways. We really haven't come as far we would like to think from the brick-dust-in-flour and fake tea Victorian days.
> 
> http://olivecenter.ucdavis.edu/files/report%20041211%20final%20reduced.pdf



Wow, very interesting. I read, a long time ago, that the best olive oils came from the small producers, not big name brands. I keep a Google spreadsheet that lists the brands I have tried and what I thought of them.


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## buckytom (Jan 19, 2012)

i don't know what's wrong with me today, but i keep reading thread titles out of context.

this one is in response to "where did you get those questionably produced chinese products?"

walgreen's, honey.


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## Zereh (Jan 19, 2012)

Honey is but the tip of the "questionable food" items ... it's ONE product out of the 1000's on our food shelves. Too bad we can't have such great discussions about the rest of them. It would change the way everyone eats, to be sure.


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## Aunt Bea (Jan 19, 2012)

Claire said:


> I had this happen with olive oil.  I picked up a store brand from curiousity.  It looked like olive oil.  It said Extra Virgin.  It tasted like your regular cooking oil.  Put on my magnifiers and read the label.  It was something like 2% olive oil, the rest regular vegetable oil.



That sounds like my imported pasta deal!  

I read the fine print when I got home and it was imported from Mexico.


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## Dawgluver (Jan 19, 2012)

buckytom said:
			
		

> i don't know what's wrong with me today, but i keep reading thread titles out of context.
> 
> this one is in response to "where did you get those questionably produced chinese products?"
> 
> walgreen's, honey.



  That's so sweet!


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## Oldvine (Jan 20, 2012)

Honey comes in flavors depending on where the bees are working... clover, orange blossoms, alfalfa.  If the shopper likes orange blossom honey and the store sells orange blossom honey, it's the best.  We use what ever the bee guy across the road leaves in a big jug at our gate.


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## chopper (Jan 20, 2012)

Oldvine said:
			
		

> Honey comes in flavors depending on where the bees are working... clover, orange blossoms, alfalfa.  If the shopper likes orange blossom honey and the store sells orange blossom honey, it's the best.  We use what ever the bee guy across the road leaves in a big jug at our gate.



What a great place you live!

Great neighbor!


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## gadzooks (Jan 20, 2012)

I live in Southern California, where there are orange orchards all over the place. Local, organic, raw honey, orange blossom or wild flower, buckwheat when it's local. Buckwheat is my favorite, rich, strong flavor and aroma.


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## Dawgluver (Jan 20, 2012)

Went to a farmers market in Knoxville several years ago and got some great honey.  I agree with buying local stuff.


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## Sir_Loin_of_Beef (Jan 20, 2012)

Walgreen's is my favorite drug store, and stop calling me honey!


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## Chief Longwind Of The North (Jan 21, 2012)

I too love buckwheat honey.  Although, I've yet to meet a honey I don't like (now DW, you know I'm talking about the stuff from bees.  Put that cast iron pan down!).  But I really like the wild honey that my freind gets from his bees.  It's far sweeter than any store-bought honey I've had.  It tastes much like Tri-foil honey (a very nutritious hay that's grown here in the Eastern UP, a favorite feed hay for cattle and horses).  I haven't had Tuppelo honey, made famous by the Van Morrison song.  I'd like to try that sometime.  When spring comes around here, we have apple blossoms, and dandelions, and lavendar, and lilac flowering everywhere.  This place is honey bee heaven.  After that, the flower gardens begin to bloom, along with the sweet clover, blueberries, raspberries, strawberries, cherry blossoms, etc. and other flowering trees.  Our summers may be short, but are filled with flowering plants of every kind.  It's a good place to be a honey bee, and a bee keeper.

Seeeeeeya; Chief Longwind of the North


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## Dawgluver (Jan 21, 2012)

We have wonderful flowering things here too, and I have thought about a hive or two, though I would probably, like CWS and her hens, dress the queen up and call her Myrtle...


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## chopper (Jan 21, 2012)

Dawgluver said:
			
		

> We have wonderful flowering things here too, and I have thought about a hive or two, though I would probably, like CWS and her hens, dress the queen up and call her Myrtle...



LOL!!  You are too funny. I just spit my tea all over on that one.


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## PrincessFiona60 (Jan 21, 2012)

Dawgluver said:


> We have wonderful flowering things here too, and I have thought about a hive or two, though I would probably, like CWS and her hens, dress the queen up and call her Myrtle...



Too many sleeves to make...


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## Dawgluver (Jan 21, 2012)

PrincessFiona60 said:
			
		

> Too many sleeves to make...



This is true.  And I forgot about the wing slits.


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## CWS4322 (Jan 21, 2012)

Dawgluver said:


> This is true.  And I forgot about the wing slits.


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## Aunt Bea (Jan 21, 2012)

Dawgluver said:


> This is true.  And I forgot about the wing slits.




Perhaps an itsy bitsy teenie weenie yellow polka dot *bee*kini !


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## PrincessFiona60 (Jan 21, 2012)

Aunt Bea said:


> Perhaps an itsy bitsy teenie weenie yellow polka dot *bee*kini !



+1


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## Addie (Jan 21, 2012)

Aunt Bea said:


> Perhaps an itsy bitsy teenie weenie yellow polka dot *bee*kini !


 
Good gracious. And I sit here voluntarily every day. No wonder I am like I am. I am hanging out with folks that have gone stark raving mad.


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## Dawgluver (Jan 21, 2012)

Aunt Bea said:
			
		

> Perhaps an itsy bitsy teenie weenie yellow polka dot beekini !



Too cute!


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