Clyde Moore: Winnie the Pooh was on to something

Due to an editing error, an earlier version of this column misidentified John Carpenter and Jeanette West. They are apprentice beekeepers and resellers for Winter Park Honey. Jean Vasicek owns Winter Park Honey with husband Scott Shurman.

I left the Maitland Farmers Market on Sunday wanting a bee sting. It sounded interesting, like something I’ve surely got to try.

No, it’s not the kind of bee sting that left my foot so swollen as a kid I couldn’t walk. This “bee sting” is the concoction of local apprentice beekeepers John and Jeanette West of Winter Park Honey (Scott Shurman and Jean Vasicek are the owners of Winter Park Honey). It’s a piece of honeycomb in a Tostitos Scoops chip with cheese and a bit of jalapeno, if you want some heat.

It’s one of the many things I learned about spending time with Jeanette at the Maitland Farmers Market this past Sunday around Lake Lily. Jeanette is the kind of knowledgeable pitchman who immediately instills confidence and a desire to try her products and recommend them to others. I listened, watched, thought of how Winnie the Pooh was on to something with that honey fixation.

Before we get into specific benefits Jeanette is already admitting, “I put honey on just about everything.” When another market vendor delivers her lunch, she’s quick to say she’s got some raspberry-flavored honey that would be great on it.

“There are nutrients in honey — because we don’t heat it, there are nutrients you can’t get anywhere else,” she explains. Jeanette enthusiastically deals with customers, answering questions and offering her knowledge. She’s part ShamWow guy, part health counselor and part Emeril Lagasse as she suggests recipes. As I watch her talk and interact, I wonder if honey also boosts energy levels.

“If you stand here for a little while, I’ve got people coming here all day long telling me, ‘Oh my God, this is so good! It helped me so much.’ I have people who come every two weeks and buy the $15 honey, the most expensive one that I have, because they love it. We have a cult following even,” she says, as more approach.

Jeanette answers more questions as others are feeding ducks with chicks behind her. I ask two who have approached about how they use her honey. “My fiancé and I use the arthritis one and he’s noticed a huge difference,” says Kristina, of Altamonte Springs. I ask how long it took to notice the benefits and her fiancé Joe says about three weeks.

Jeanette begins providing the group samples, quickly sticking a straw into the respective container, swirling it as it’s removed. A pile of used straws is developing on the small pale she’s set on the table. “That was so good,” Kristina says, after sampling one of the “oils,” five varieties in which distilled organic oils are added for additional health benefits. “The cinnamon orange rocks,” Kristina shares, telling me to have “Earl Grey tea in the morning and put a little bit of that orange cinnamon in it — that is so good.” Joe confirms: “Delicious,” adding that honey is “nature’s sugar.”

Check out Winter Park Honey at the following farmers markets or order online at WinterParkHoney.com

Saturday:

Winter Park Farmers Market, New England Avenue, 7 a.m. to 1 p.m.

Winter Garden Farmer's Market, Plant Street, 8 a.m. – 1 p.m.

Lake Mary Farmers Market, Lake Mary City Hall, 9 a.m. – 1 p.m.

Sunday:

Maitland Farmers Market, Lake Lily, 9 a.m. – 2 p.m.

Jeanette explains, “These five we add organic distilled essential oils for the health benefits, but they taste good, too. The key lime has an antiseptic quality, which adds to the honeys, so it’s good for your mouth, your throat, your digestive system, especially kidneys. Lavender is for relaxation.

“Cinnamon and honey have been studied all over the world and almost everything’s better, makes it better. It’s good for your heart, your lungs, your eyes, your brain. It helps control your cholesterol level, your blood sugar level, your blood pressure. It’s good for your skin, you can put it on eczema and psoriasis. Put it on your skin and eat it and attack it from both directions.

“Flu Be Gone has black cumin and melaleuca; and, it’s really good at fighting viruses and protecting you from secondary infections. It’s also a really good antihistamine, reducing the histamines, which are released into your blood stream. Arthritis Be Gone has cinnamon and turmeric, which are both anti-inflammatory, among 10,000 other good things they benefit in your body.”

Their honey is likely most often used by allergy sufferers, introducing into the body the same local elements that set off allergic attacks. I hear her explaining to one customer, “Start with a teaspoon a day. Keep it upside down so that you don’t get too much of what you’re allergic to.” She says symptoms could get worse at first and she might need to try a smaller dosage. “Build it up,” she says, telling her that everyone’s different. I hear her tell another of one variety’s benefits for preventing and dealing with kidney stones, and remember hearing recently that Central Florida can be a bad location for kidney stones when people allow themselves to become dehydrated. All their honeys are unfiltered and help boost your immune system.

She says she’s been stung a few hundred times — 12 at one time when “bees got down my pants legs one time because I sprained my knee, and I got like 12 bee stings. When the swelling went down from the stings, the swelling was gone in my knee, too. And all the pain was gone.” I remember her earlier remark, “We make people happy and healthy. It’s awesome.”

I ask her of her personal favorite and she responds, “Orange blossom. It’s so good. I’ve lived in Florida all my life. When I was a little girl I could open my window at night in the springtime and this is what it tastes like. It tastes like the orange groves.”

Maybe something to try with my next bee sting.

Local Luv'n Local

Peak Season Pops is a family-owned business created by Jana and Steven Rice. They make all-natural gourmet frozen treats in Maitland in a locally owned commercial kitchen. Their small batch recipes are made with peak season ingredients that will tantalize your tongue year-round! Watch for them at Winter Park and Maitland farmers markets and other events. Visit PeakSeasonPops.com

Clyde Moore operates local sites ILUVWinterPark.com, ILUVParkAve.com and LUVMyRate.com, and aims to help local businesses promote themselves for free and help save them money, having some fun along the way. Email him at [email protected] or write to ILuv Winter Park on Facebook or Twitter.