Sunset in the Puako forest, where our White Honey is gathered

People often ask what makes our honey so special? Our short answer is that we use meticulous harvesting and handling techniques; however, there is an essential element that provides the platform for all our beekeeping activities.  This element is where the honey comes from, and can be described as a sense of place, or ‘terroir.’ This special place imparts an extraordinary quality to our honey, which is gathered exclusively from this one unique dryland forest.

Terroir comes from the Latin word for land, terre. It was originally a French term used to denote the special characteristics that geography, geology and climate give to the unique foods cultivated in different regions. Examples include Champagne (from Champagne, France), Balsamic Vinegar of Modena (Italy), Columbian coffee, Camambert cheese (from Normandy), and Vidalia onions (from Vidalia, Georgia). Humans also affect the quality of these special foods – for instance, through their decisions about which crop varieties to cultivate and animal breeds to raise, and which specific farming practices to use.

Our Rare Hawaiian Organic White Honey is a prime example of a terroir food.  All our White (kiawe) honeys come from a single grove of kiawe trees on the Big Island of Hawaii. Known as the Puako forest, this rare environment was created by converging natural and human forces.

The Puako forest is located on the island’s leeward coast, meaning that it is sheltered from the prevailing northeasterly trade winds by the nearly 14,000 foot Mauna Kea and Mauna Loa volcanoes.

Owner/Beekeeper, Richard Spiegel, walking through the Puako apiary

So, the Puako forest does not receive much rain – only about 7 inches per year. The climate is warm and dry, but a perennial source of brackish (salty) groundwater provides subterranean irrigation year-round. While most plants cannot tolerate Puako’s saline, coastal soils, the kiawe tree (Prosopis pallida) — a salt-tolerant legume native to coastal South America — is perfectly adapted.  Kiawe was brought to Hawaii from Peru by humans in the late 1820s. It was later spread by cattle, who ate the nutrient-rich bean pods, literally planting the Puako forest that exists today.

Luckily for us (and our honey-loving friends), the forest in Puako happens to be a classic oasis — isolated in the middle of a ‘lava desert’, created by Mauna Loa’s 1859 eruption. Since no other flowers bloom in such high abundance in this area, we are able to collect a monofloral honey, made solely from kiawe nectar.  This also allows for the production of organic honey, as Puako’s more than 1000 forested acres are free from synthetics, pesticides and other toxins.

View of Puako

These unique ecological features (isolation, abundant sunshine, dry weather,and constant irrigation) and human influence (the introduction of kiawe), combined with the bees’ tireless work, create the essence of our Rare Hawaiian Organic White Honey. Our intention, as beekeepers, is to change it as little as possible, bringing you as close to a taste of this magical Hawaiian forest as possible! That is why we are committed to a raw, unfiltered, all-natural product.

This May, Puako is bursting with Spring flowers. Thankfully, our bees’ health also appears to be improving, and right now the kiawe honey flow is strong. Since all of our honeys are seasonal and limited in supply, you will be glad to know that our White Honey, is available right now through our online store.

We know that shipping has gotten expensive with rising oil prices, and many of our customers have found that ordering larger shipments, especially our eco six pack, helps them save money.

Blooming Kiawe flowers

Ordering larger quantities at a time also helps conserve our precious natural resources, like fossil fuels.

Taking care of the environment is a huge part of who we are and what we do here at Volcano Island Honey Co. We are grateful and honored to share the rare and wonderful environment of the Puako forest with customers like you, who will appreciate the terroir that makes our exceptional honey possible.

Our Rare Hawaiian Organic White Honey is known for its creamy texture and subtle flavor-but our Silk Honey is the crème de la crème-literally, it is our creamiest, smoothest, silkiest texture honey. We first introduced Silk Honey in 2007 and it immediately became a NASFT (North American Specialty Food Trade Association) Sofi Silver finalist for best new product!


Silk Honey is from the same nectar (kiawe) as our White Honey, but we refined how we finish the honey to create an even smoother texture. Many people ask why our honey is white and looks whipped (it is not!). The creamy white texture is a result of the fine crystallization of the honey (which is characteristic of kiawe honey) when harvesting is timed correctly. If you do a careful taste test (eyes closed!), you can detect the very fine crystals in our White Honey. If you repeat the test with our Silk Honey, you will not be able to feel any of the tiny crystals, which is why the texture is so smooth and silky. It takes a lot of meticulous attention to detail to make a natural and unheated honey as smooth as our Silk Honey, but we thrive on challenge.


Crystals are ubiquitous in our lives: diamonds, snow, sugar, salt, ice, etc; and they are the basis for much of the high tech world in which we live. A computer chip is made of crystals (silicon crystals); our honey is composed of crystals (sugar crystals). Here at our honey farm, the low tech world of nature and our meticulous beekeepers combine to offer a live, natural food composed of tiny, edible crystals. While silicon crystals deliver you high tech information, the fine crystals in our honey deliver you ‘A Taste of the Magic of Hawaii’ – delicious, delicate honey crystals imbued with the essence of the Hawaii sun and flowers.


Many of you asked about shelf life of our honey. Our Silk Honey has a longer shelf life than our other honeys. We recommend that it be used within six months to preserve its gourmet quality and texture. If stored in the refrigerator, its original characteristics will be preserved up to 18 months.


Because we do not heat our honey, the naturally occurring enzymes remain alive and active. Over time (4-6 months) the action of the enzymes will change the honey’s texture, flavor and color. That’s why it is important to store our honey in a cool dry environment to slow down the enzymatic activities. Refrigeration or freezing is a good way to store our honey for an extended period of time. If eaten within 4-6 months, depending on the texture that you prefer, there is no need to refrigerate. While honey does change over time, it is edible indefinitely. Two thousand year old edible honey was found in the pyramids in Egypt.


Our Silk Honey is very popular among honey fans and connoisseurs. We make Silk Honey in small batches and we only have about a 6 week supply left. To experience our smooth as silk honey, you can order your honey now!

Lilikoi is passion fruit in Hawaiian.


Lilikoi is a fragrant fruit with a lovely tangy and sweet taste. Many people think that the beeLilikoi Honeys feed on the nectar of the lilikoi flower and that is how we get lilikoi honey. But in fact, we mix pure wild-crafted puree of the lilikoi fruit into our Organic White Honey to make our Rare Hawaiian Organic White Honey with Hawaiian Lilikoi. The sweetness of our white honey mixes perfectly with the tartness of the lilikoi. (Kind of like some couples, eh?)


Passion fruit (Passiflora edulis) is native to South America, and grows prolifically in Hawaii. It is a rich source of vitamin C and a good source of vitamin A, iron, and potassium. We source our lilikoi puree locally from a small environmentally aware company.


Ways to Use Lilikoi Honey

If you’re like us – we like eating all of our honeys straight out of the jar! It is also a great spread on pancakes, waffles or whole wheat toast. You can also combine the lilikoi honey with butter or cream cheese as a spread. Sunee Campbell, our Production Manager uses our lilikoi honey to make an easy and delicious cake frosting. Its great on carrot cake and chocolate cake! Just whip one 8 oz block of cream cheese with about 3 Tablespoons of lilikoi honey.


Try our Silk and Passion Gift Box or a jar of our Rare Hawaiian Organic White Honey with Hawaiian Lillikoi.

Check out our February Newsletter!

Diagnostic testing: we had to sacrifice some of our bees in the pursuit of a scientific understanding for the causes of this disease. The sampling team (from left to right): UH researcher, Didi; Volcano Island beekeeper, Daniel; UH graduate student; Volcano Island beekeeper, Arthur; UH extension agent Scott; Dr. Steven Martin in the red Haz-Mat suit; Volcano Island owner-beekeeper, Richard Spiegel.

Last week at Volcano Island Honey Co., Dr. Steven Martin of the University of Sheffield (UK) visited our farm for the second time to collect samples for his research on insect viruses. We took advantage of Dr. Martin’s visit to learn more about the latest in bee health worldwide – a subject that affects us all, since many of our favorite food crops rely on bees for pollination (including avocados, lemons, apples and broccoli). As one of the world’s foremost scientists studying honeybee viruses, we thought you might be interested in hearing what Dr. Martin had to say – especially as Colony Collapse Disorder (CCD) has recently received much media attention.

Selecting: Volcano Island beekeeper, Arthur, looks for a good sample of bees on one of our frames, with UH extension agent (left) and Dr. Martin (right).

CCD is characterized by a sudden departure of worker bees from a hive still rich in resources and brood. The title of a recent New York Times article, “Scientists and soldiers solve a bee mystery,” was somewhat misleading, as the CCD quandary remains largely unresolved. One recently published study and the basis for the NYT article suggested that CCD might be linked to the combined presence of fungus and virus in the hive. Yet, many scholars are exploring other possible culprits – such as yet unknown viruses, GMOs, and pesticides applied to crops consumed by bees. Of particular concern to some beekeepers, neonicotinoids, or nicotine-based insecticides, are known to be harmful to bees and have already been partially banned in France.

Collecting: UH researchers scoop a small sample of bees into a plastic bag to test the viruses present in the hive.

Luckily for us, CCD has not reached Hawaii. Nonetheless, other bee diseases are threatening our hives, as well as many others around the state. These include the Varroa mite, responsible for spreading the viruses Dr. Martin studies. According to Dr. Martin the mites themselves are less harmful than the viruses they carry. The viruses enter the brood and adult bees at the mites puncture wound/feeding site on the bees body; these viruses proliferate exponentially and reduce the bees’ lifespan by about two thirds. On Dr. Martin’s first visit to Volcano Island Honey a year ago Varroa had not yet infested our colonies; on this return visit he intends to compare the virus levels present in newly varroa-infested colonies with the levels he found in those same colonies before they were infested with varroa.

Over the past few decades, Varroa has managed to spread across the world at an alarming rate: the first mite was found on the east coast of the U.S. in 1979 and reached Hawai’i in 2007 (the Big Island in 2008). As we understood from Dr. Martin, this epidemic is related to humans moving infested mite-resistant Asian bees into regions where non-resistant European honeybees lived, allowing the mite to crossover and infest the European honeybees. In this way, human meddling with nature has probably contributed to an environmental problem, threatening not only bees, but beekeepers and honey lovers – as well as some 30% of our entire food supply.

We are now working with Dr. Martin and researchers at the University of Hawaii at Manoa to fight the Varroa mite so that our bees can continue to live long healthy lives and create the very special honey we love sharing with you. Dr. Martin’s fascinating visit also renewed our commitment to holistic, organic honey production – as pure and natural as possible, for your health and that of our planet.

In considering the topics for this year’s newsletter, a staff member told me that our newsletter was lacking our typical sparkle, and that we report basically the same story every year. “People came, people left. Honey harvest is up, honey harvest is down. Bees are in trouble due to the latest threat.” So this year I thought I would leave those stories to our Blog and Facebook and share with you the deeper successes of this little business.


As an eclectic spiritual practitioner I know that the wheel of the world keeps turning – good/bad, down/up, rich/poor, sickness/health – and that it is part of my task to transcend this whirl – to be a part of it all, but not to become overly attached to it – to recognize that my essential being is only temporarily visiting in this body.


It is essential that I incorporate my up/down/spin-around busyness as part of my spiritual practice. Since running a small business is what Candice and I spend most of our time doing, it is important to recognize it as part of our spiritual practice. And what is our spiritual practice? To be awake as much as possible and to do good and at the very least to do no harm to the environment and living beings.


So then, what is this business about? Is it about money? Well, money is part of it. Money enables us to keep going as a business and share this exceptional honey with you. Without a profitable business we wouldn’t have the opportunity to connect in meaningful ways with all of the people who flow through Volcano Island Honey as staff, as customers, as chefs, as friends – all helping make it such a special place to be. And the business is also a vehicle for expressing our intention to be an example of the possibility of working and living in harmony with the earth, with people and with spirit and at the same time be financially successful.


The other day I was on the phone with the CEO of a large company that sells our honey. He was sharing with me the many life changes he has been experiencing since he had heart trouble earlier this year changes that made obvious the impermanence of all material things. Then he said, “You know five mornings a week I get up and have a dab of your honey on my toast and in my tea. Your honey connects me to the peaceful tranquility of Hawaii.” He reminded me of the subtle reach of our humble work – to know that a busy and important executive like this is touched each day by our intention and our desire to share a Taste of the Magic of Hawaii.


For 25 years we have been getting letters from customers telling us that our honey is a special part of their day. The fact that we can facilitate the transmission of our deep intention embodied in this delightful honey, and that so many appreciate it so much, is truly satisfying. That is what this business is really about.


May this Holiday Season bring peace in your heart, in your family and in the world.


Aloha,


Richard


Richard Spiegel and Ohana (Family) ~ Beekeepers & Gatherers of Fine Honey


Click here for this year’s Holiday Specials.

Richard was recently in California visiting his daughter and her family. What started out as an idea to talk to his grandson Hayden’s class evolved into a presentation to the entire 1st grade (about 100 children) at Lilac School in Valley Center, California.


In teaching about the parts of a bee Richard asked who had been stung by a bee. Everyone raised their hand except one child. Having been stung many times, Richard shared his experience about how to best to handle bee stings. Only a small percentage of the population are seriously allergic to bees, but there seems to be a lot of fear about being stung. Richard often helps people to feel comfortable around bees and to realize that they are actually gentle and only defensive when threatened (true for the European Honeybees that we work with!)


The first grade has been studying the natural world and insects in particular. Connecting the behavior of bees to geometry and science, Richard talked about bees and their communication through triangulation, performing the waggle dance.


Richard also assigned some homework! We use centrifugal force when spinning the honey out of the frames. Centrifugal force can be experienced at home by spinning in a circle with your arms hanging loose…they start to come up and out away from your body. Another fun home experiment is to set out a dish of honey and watch for the bees. First you will see one or two (the scouts!) and when more bees start to appear, you will know that they are doing the waggle dance and telling the other bees where to find the honey!


The observation hive is always a hit! Not able to bring a hive and bees from Hawaii, Richard borrowed the observation hive and bees from beekeeper and queen breeder Tom Glenn. Tom is breeding VSH (Varroa sensitive hygenic) queens, which we are all hoping is a long term solution to the varroa mite problem.


Posted by Andrea Dean.

‎”L’shana tova”- The traditional greeting for Rosh Hashanah is customarily extended on the first evening of Rosh Hashana, tonight, Sept 8th! L’shanah tovah or L’shana tova means “for a good year”.


Traditionally, Jewish people eat apple with honey on Rosh Hashanah – hopefully Volcano Island Honey! Dip the apple in some Rare Hawaiian Organic White Honey and may you be blessed with a good year. Read here about the tradition of dipping an apple in honey.


We at Volcano Island Honey also want to say, “shana tova umetukah”- for a good and sweet year.


Posted by Andrea Dean

Win a Free Jar of our Silk Honey:


Tell us your favorite ways to use our honey. We will select the most interesting and unusual entries and award silk honey! Your best ideas and winners will be featured on our blog in September.


So…your favorite way to use our honey is…

What are you looking for when you travel?

When I travel I am looking to connect with the people and the place in a deep and authentic way. Yes… I want to read books and improve upon my tan, but I also want to feel connected to something outside of my ordinary range of experience.

Andrea dancing with new friends at a kava party in Lawena, Taveuni, Fiji.

I just got back from a trip to Fiji and was deeply touched by the depth of my visitor experience. I stayed in a number of places that were owned and run by Fijians, and in some cases owned and run by the village. The connection between my visitor dollars and the good it did in the communities where I stayed was real and immediate. I never felt so good spending money! In exchange, I got to experience Fijian nature and culture in a real, authentic way.

Andrea (at left), Mary and Fijian friends in Sabeto, Viti Levu.

Given my interest in food self-sufficiency, I was always on the lookout for how people were growing and harvesting food. In summary- cassava and taro, everywhere! There was no formal “agri-tourism,” but every experience was an opportunity to sample native foods. On the outer islands, you don’t go to the food store for your food you go to the land and sea.

At one point I was sharing granola bars with some villagers. “Are these Hawaiian snacks?” they asked. “Well…not exactly, I bought them at Costco.” And then I found myself having to explain what Costco was to the people who brought me a dinner the night before that consisted entirely of foods they grew or harvested from the ocean on that day.

Agriculture in Hawaii is second only to tourism in terms of an economic driver- and some farms have married the two together creating “agri-tourism” on the Big Island. Visiting working farms is a great way to connect with Hawaii residents, explore new areas of the island, and sample the bounty of the land.

Students from DePauw University sampling bee pollen.

Volcano Island Honey has been welcoming visitors to the bee farm, or “apiary,” for over 20 years. The bees have so much wisdom to share with us about how to live gently on the earth and in community with one another. Richard Spiegel, owner of Volcano Island Honey has been passionate about the bees and the environment for over 30 years.

Richard shows Lama Dhondup a frame from the bee hive.

Visiting Volcano Island Honey is always an authentic experience because Richard wears his heart on his sleeve (or his bee suit, as the case may be!) When you visit, Richard (resident beekeeper-hippy-lawyer-philosopher) shares his personal and professional philosophy evolved from over 30 years of working with the bees.

Next time you are visiting Hawaii, or have friends or family visiting you- consider spending part of a day at Volcano Island Honey. The company has just launched a new Private Artisan Apiary Tour designed to give visitors more one-on-one time with Richard and the Bees. (You even get to put on a bee suit and explore the inside of a hive, but you don’t have to!)

Posted by Andrea Dean.