Jars of Honey by Jen from the Seattlest Flickr pool. more ›

We first contacted Ballard Bee Company intending to feature a source of locally made honey. But honey, as it turns out, is merely a byproduct of Ballard Bee Company's actual function. Last year, beekeeper Corky Luster decided to start an urban pollination company, and began setting up hives around Seattle in the hopes of helping people take an interest in bees, increase the pollination of the city’s flowers, trees and vegetable gardens, and to give a boost to the dropping honey bee population. more ›

The P-I's big, splashy story today is on the crucial problem of "honey laundering," a horrific pun which made us snicker and then cry a little bit. The issue is that certain nefarious companies are shipping sub-par and potentially contaminated honey out of China on its way to the U.S. markets, stopping at intermediary shipping points (Vietnam, for instance) to alter the documents to make it look like said honey didn't actually come from China. The sweet goods are then slipped across our borders, where the P-I's investigation showed that officials can be less than hyper-vigilant about inspections. People might get sick. The other point of interest is that apparently the FDA has no legal definition for honey. (Seriously? Form a committee at once.) more ›