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Honey

Fresh, pure, raw honey is alive with enzymes and known for its healing and antimicrobial properties.  It's also a powerful humectant that draws and keeps water in your skin, making it the perfect ingredient for a hydrating, moisturizing mask.

I'd been searching for a hyper local source of raw honey for several years and finally, typical California serendipity led me to a delicious source of freshly harvested and bottled raw honey just 2.3 miles from Bexi's, West Davis Honey. 

My find was made even sweeter when I learned that West Davis Honey's beekeeper, Lindabeth, cares deeply about saving Mother Earth and all bees, not just honey bees.  A portion of the proceeds from the sale of West Davis honey goes to Friends of the Earth and/or Natural Resources Defense Council, two organizations that fight for a healthier and more just world. 

Lindabeth's yard is filled with a variety of pollinator-friendly native flowers and shrubs that she specifically planted after visiting the Haagen-Dazs Honey Bee Haven on the University of Davis, California campus and consulting local nurseries.  

The buzz in Lindabeth's backyard...(turn your volume up).
 
A collage of pictures of honey bees on flowers. A honey bee on a pink zinnia, a honey bee on a magenta zinnia, 2 honey bees on 2 morning glories, and a honey bee on a white rose.
West Davis honey comes from bees that feed on a variety of flowers including zinnias (top), morning glories (bottom left) and roses (bottom right).
    

Did you know?  There are no honey bees indigenous to North America; all the honey bees in North America were originally imported from Europe in the 1600s for wax and honey.  There are over 3600 native species of bees in North America and these are the species of bees that are declining.  Twenty-eight percent of North American native bumblebee species are at risk of extinction (1).  While we rely heavily on honey bees in agriculture, native bees are also important for pollination.  Committed to saving bees in general, Lindabeth has built and posted bee houses all along her fence, so that native, California bees have a place to stay and breed.   

Native honey bee houses on fences around Lindabeth's yards.