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FOOD SCENE
The latest buzz on honey BY MARGIE WUEBKER
HOW SWEET IT IS AT Honeyrun Farm near Williamsport, as owners Isaac and Jayne Barnes oversee an ambitious operation specializing in raw honey. Starting with one hive — a Christmas present in 2003 — the business has expanded to nearly 700. Honeyrun Farm offers seasonal honeys, each with a distinctive flavor and color. Spring honey is the palest, with a sweet, mild flavor from bush honeysuckle and black locust blossoms. Summer honey is a shade darker and even sweeter, as a result of bees dining on clover, Canadian thistle, and wild blackberries. Fall honey has a rich, robust flavor and deeper color, thanks to goldenrod and asters growing in and around the Pickaway County farm in the heart of the service area of South Central Power Company, the electric cooperative based in Lancaster. Other products include tulip poplar and herbal-infused honey. “The darker the honey, the stronger the flavor,” Isaac Barnes says. “Many beekeepers harvest honey once a year, but we do it spring through fall to capture different flavors.” Raw honey is 100 percent pure. Never pasteurized or highpressure filtered, it retains enzymes, antioxidants, trace vitamins, and antibacterial properties, along with a natural flavor and taste. Barnes says that honey sold in most grocery stores has been pasteurized to lengthen shelf life and improve appearance, stripping away nutrients in the process. Honeyrun Farm, part of the Ohio Fresh Foods Corridor, sells raw honey at Whole Foods Mar-
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COUNTRY LIVING
• AUGUST 2016