Raw Honey from Mohawk Valley Trading Co - Review and Giveaway, Ends 1/31/14

DISCLOSURE:
I received products from Mohawk Valley Trading Company for the purpose of review.  I received no monetary compensation.  The opinions expressed herein are my own and based on my own use of and experience with the item(s).

I love honey. I have done all of my life. My Pop was a firm believer in it's medicinal benefits and healing qualities. Now, he was taught this from his grandmother who was known as a "Root Doctor". In the old days (late 1800s), Root Doctors were about all rural Georgia had.

My great-great grandmother, Hannah Brown, had her husband, Jesse, and her kids and grandkids "take a dose" of honey several times a year (I guess she didn't count honey on biscuits!). She lived well into her 80s... my Pop lived to be almost 91! He was a very healthy man -- it was old age, not disease, that finally came for him.

Honey has been used by humans since ancient times for its health benefits and a study published by the Archives of Pediatrics & Adolescent Medicine, researchers found that buckwheat honey (actually any raw honey) works far better than dextromethorphan (the active ingredient in store-bought cough syrup) at reducing the frequency and severity of coughing episodes for children. Here are a few links to more information about it being more effective than cough syrup as especially for children over one year old:

Medical News Today
ABC News
Science Daily
NCBI.NLM.NIH.Gov

On a December 2012 episode of his show, Dr. Oz talked about his flu prevention checklist and what supplements can help boost immunity and prevent or shorten the lifespan of the flu, sore throat, and the common cold. With Dr. Oz was special guest Dr. Tasneem Bhatia from the Atlanta Center for Holistic and Integrative Medicine. One of the natural remedy solutions she recommended is taking 1 to 2 teaspoons of buckwheat honey every day.

There is a HUGE difference between the processed, heated, pasteurized, and filtered honey that you find on most grocery store shelves and raw honey that is unheated, unpasteurized, unfiltered, unprocessed, unblended and in the same condition as it was in the hive.

For me, the FIRST thing I noticed is the amazing fragrance of raw honey. It's stronger, more aromatic, and begs for a tasting. Honey from the grocers just don't have that unique fragrance and appeal.

Raw honey is a multi-tasker! I slather it on bagels and toast, sweeten my tea (hot and cold), bake with it.  I've made a hot toddy many times to ease a sore throat and ward off a cold.  I have...just eaten it with a spoon.

While most store-bought honeys look and taste just about the same -- that is NOT the case with raw honey!  Oh no, each flower has it's own personality, fragrance, taste, and colour!  And it's addictive.  Once you've eaten REAL, unprocessed raw honey... you will never look back.

The folks at The Mohawk Valley Trading Company offer the highest quality unprocessed natural products that they can produce: Maple Syrup, Maple Sugar, Honey, Raw Honey, Beeswax, Beeswax Candles, Handmade Soap and Natural Skin Care Products.

I was blessed to receive three jars of their delicious Raw Honey for this review.

1. Tulip Poplar-Black Locust Honey - From about the last week of October (after we harvest the Autumn Wildflower and Buckwheat Honey) thru April some of our hives are trucked to The Delmarva Peninsula to winter over in a milder climate and to get an earlier start in the spring than they would in Upstate NY. Tulip Poplar and Black Locust trees bloom about the same time and this honey is derived form the nectar of their blossoms. Its dark color is due to the high mineral content. Our raw Tulip Poplar-Black Locust honey is unheated, unpasteurized, unfiltered, unprocessed unblended and in the same condition as it was in the hive.

2. Raw Buckwheat Honey has a deep, dark brown color, strong, pungent, molasses like earthy flavor and is high in mineral content and antioxidant compounds. The benefits of buckwheat honey are many and well known, however, if you are planning to buy buckwheat honey for its health-benefits, it must be raw. Heating honey (pasteurization) destroys the all of the pollen, enzymes, propolis, vitamins, amino acids, antioxidants, minerals, and aromatics. Honey that has been heated and filtered is called liquid, regular or commercial honey.

Buckwheat is neither a grass nor wheat, but is a fruit related to rhubarb and is one of the first crops cultivated in the United States. Dutch colonists brought buckwheat to North America where they planted it along the Hudson River. Buckwheat was sometimes called beechwheat, because its seeds look like small beech nuts. Buckwheat was an important crop in the U.S. until the demand declined in the 1960's. Today, it is primarily grown in Northern states such as New York, which is where our buckwheat apiaries are located.

Buckwheat seeds are also used or making gluten free flour and buckwheat blossoms are an excellent source of nectar and blooming can continue well into the autumn.

3. Sunflowers are in bloom at the same time summer wildflowers are and since honey bees are free-roaming, wild insects that fly; it is impossible to control where they forage. In some areas where there are miles and miles of sunflower fields it is possible to produce honey where the dominant source of nectar is sunflower; However, that is not the case here. Hence the name Sunflower-Summer Wildflower Honey.

I also received a container of real Summer Wildflower Comb Honey

Comb honey is sections of the hexagonal-shaped beeswax cells of the honeycomb that contain raw honey that have been cut from the wooden frames of a beehive.

It is the rawest honey available and contains all of the pollen, enzymes, propolis, vitamins, amino acids, antioxidants, minerals, and aromatics that the honey had in the hive.

Comb honey is more expensive than either raw or liquid bottled honey. Bottled honey is extracted from the beeswax comb and the comb is able to be used again. Since the comb is completely removed to produce comb honey, the bees and beekeeper must work harder to produce it.

Prior to the invention of honey extractors, a good majority of honey consumed was comb honey and currently it is in great demand among health enthusiast, honey aficionados, gourmands, connoisseurs and chefs.

Our Summer Wildflower Comb Honey becomes available about Mid-July and about 90 percent of it is pre-sold since we take orders year round on a first come, first served basis.

***COMB HONEY IS NOT AVAILABLE AT THIS TIME***

The folks at Mohawk Valley Trading Company have generously offered one of my readers the opportunity win the same package (except for the comb honey) that I received.

Just follow the entry instructions below for your chance to enter to win! All entries will be verified!

DISCLOSURE:
I received products from Mohawk Valley Trading Company for the purpose of review. I received no monetary compensation. The opinions expressed herein are my own and based on my own use of and experience with the item(s).

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