We Traveled To Learn The Story of Honey

by Jenn

Honey is by far my favorite natural sweetener; it’s not only yummy it’s beautiful, and I am one of the lucky bloggers who traveled to learn the Story of Honey. If you follow us on Instagram, you’ve probably already seen our several photos from our recent trip.

Last month I had the pleasure of traveling to South Dakota, Iowa, and even Nebraska to learn more about the actual story of honey.  Which, of course, starts with pollen and bees, but there is so much more to it than just the flowers and the bees.  Oh, and before this trip I was deathly afraid of bees, but I’ve learned that these awesome little honey bees are okay.  Not only do they make one of my favorite ingredients, but they are also kind of cool as long as you don’t give them a reason to act otherwise, lol.

This trip was by far the most interesting trip I’ve been on as a blogger.  Not only did I learn about something I love, but the sights were beautiful, smells were amazing, and of course I can’t think of anything sweeter than honey!  This trip was by far one of the most interesting trips I’ve been on.  There is so much more to the true Story of Honey than I thought.  We think it’s as easy as the flower and the bees, but there is a lot more too creating this naturally sweet treat.  Oh, and don’t get my started on pairing honey.  

honeyNeedless to say, I’ve been a fan and consumer of honey for a long time.  I would rather bake with honey when I have the chance, and my family loves it.  Gosh, I can remember my mom cooking with honey when I was a child. 

Did you know there are 115,000 to 125,000 beekeepers here in the US and most of the beekeepers are hobbyists?  Beekeepers with less than 25 hives are considered hobbyists, commercial beekeepers are those who have 300 or more hives. 

Oh, and did you now that the honeybee handles pollinating crops?  Yes, they sure are!  bee hiveThe adventure started when we got to the apiary and headed for the hives.  The white boxes in the above images are hives from the apiary we visited and inside those boxes are tons of bees and frames for the bees to not only do their part in the creation of honey but raise more bees.  

jenns blah blah blog travel blogger

I got to put on a bee suit and be around the bees in their environment, where the Story of Honey begins.!  I totally have way too much fun.  To be honest, it’s because I was nervous about meeting all these honey bees.  I mean, everyone always tell me not to freak out when I see one bee.  I honestly wasn’t sure how I was going to respond to tens of thousands of bees.  

honey bees story of honeyThankfully, the bees were as welcoming as the beekeepers who took us to the hives.  It was nothing like I thought lol.

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A video posted by Jenn Worden (@jennworden) on

  You could hear the bees buzzing around, but it was actually a really neat and relaxing experience.  All the bees were busy, but going on about their busy bee schedule.  

story of honey 1After we had finished with visiting the hives, we headed to the extraction facility.  Yes, this is where things start to get sweeter.

how to make honeyAfter the beekeepers have removed the honeycomb frames from the hives and scrape off the wax from the frames they are placed into a centrifuge.  

honey beesThe centrifuge spins and extracts the honey from the honeycomb frames.  Next, it pumps all the honey into HUGE drums and ships it off to be bottled. 

beekeepersMany beekeepers pass down their knowledge and hives from generation to generation and even work with their family to extract honey.  The gentlemen we visited with actually work with his family and only has a few hired employees.

After we toured the apiary and headed for lunch. 

story of honey blogger tripOur lunch included several GREAT recipes with honey from the National Honey Board and the wonderful beekeeper and author of the Taste of Honey cookbook. 

punchLet me tell you everything tasted AMAZING!  My personal favorite was the Honey Hibiscus Orange Punch!  It was out of this world! 

honey tasteingThat evening we went back to our hotel, got cleaned up and headed for dinner with the National Honey Board and the lovely Marie Simmons before.  Before dinner was served we were able to learn about pairing honey.  Of course we got to try several different kinds of honey, and each was paired with something different.  

Did you know there is OVER 300 different varietals of honey and it comes from so many different floral sources it can vary in color and flavor?

 The colors of honey can range from almost colorless to dark brown, and the flavor from delectable mild to distinctly bold.  Even the odor of the honey may be mildly reminiscent of a flower.  My personal favorite is Clover Honey, but I also like Orange Honey, Buckwheat Honey, and I’m sure I could find more.  Honey is just awesome and after learning more about the different flavors I’m excited to start cooking with more than just the three types of honey I’m comfortable with.  

story of honeyThe following morning we made a bee line (haha) for the bottling facility, which is where more than 300 beekeepers send their honey to be bottled.  It was truly an amazing experience and an eye-opener to how much honey is consumed in the United States. 

honey bottleOne of my favorite part of the factory was the little-unfilled honey bear bottles.  I know, they are even better filled but watching the process of filling, packaging and getting everything ready for the stores was AWESOME! 

story of honey blogger trip 1Everything went fast and smooth. 

Did you know honey is best when stored in an airtight container at room temperature?  And, remember it never goes bad. 

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I took tons of pictures that I wanted to share so I figured it would be best to include a sideshow of some of our trip.  

Slow Cooker Mozzarella Stuffed Honey BBQ Meatball Sliders RecipeBe sure to check out our Slow Cooker Mozzarella Stuffed Honey BBQ Meatball Sliders Recipe inspired by our trip to learn the Story of Honey.  Be sure to find your local honey by heading over to the National Honey Board’s website and using their Honey Locator.  

You can learn more about the National Honey Board by visiting Honey.comStoryofHoney.com, subscribing to their YouTube Channel, following on Instagram, Twitter, and Facebook

My husband and I decided to make a Roadtrip out of it and drive all the way from New Mexico to learn the Story of Honey.  We ended up visiting New Mexico, Texas, Kansas, Oklahoma, Colorado, Nebraska, Iowa, and gosh there could be another state in there I’m not sure, lol.  It was amazing, not only did a make a few new blogging buddies and learn the Story of Honey, I was able to spend quality time with my husband doing something we both enjoy – no stress traveling!

This is a sponsored post for The Motherhood for their recent partnership with our friends at the National National Honey Board.  We had a blast on our trip to learn the #StoryofHoney and are excited to share express our thoughts with you.

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