If you missed the first part of Food Trend's interview with Round Rock Honey's Konrad Bouffard, click here. From school teacher to bee keeper and producer of one of America's most respected artisanal honeys, you won't want to miss it!
Food Trends (FT): How did you get the idea to produce the kind of honey you offer under the Round Rock label?
Konrad Bouffard (KB): I didn’t really come up with any special plan for producing honey. I just bottled what the bees made for me, and I sold it immediately after bottling. As I became better and better as a beekeeper, I learned to place hives strategically along the Balcones escarpment in Round Rock, and that resulted in the bees making a honey with an incredibly diverse, yet balanced pollen and flavor profiles. Also, my customers love the fact that I am adamant about using organic methods.
FT: We’re hearing a lot of news these days about Colony Collapse- what is that exactly and what’s causing it?
KB: CCD is a phenomenon that has led to the disappearance of bees all along the eastern and western seaboards, and in some other parts of the country. If I knew what was causing it, I would be a very rich man, to be sure. No one seems to know the cause of CCD, or even if there is a single cause, but many scientists believe neonicotinoids found in pesticides are playing a role in confusing bees ability to navigate during flight.
FT: What can we do to stop this?
KB: Don’t use pesticides and don’t by cheap honey from overseas. Also, try your best to live organically, and put a beehive in your backyard (if possible).
FT: Bees pollinate a lot of what we eat- but most people don’t know that. Tell us about what bees do and why that’s in a way pretty miraculous stuff.
KB: Bees pollinate about 3/4 of the plants/produce found in a typical grocery store. However, even if bees only pollinated ten percent of the planet’s vascular plants, that would be HUGE. The fact that they pollinate many times that amount is REALLY REALLY HUGE. I guess the best way to think about pollination by bees is to keep in mind that bees developed with flowering plants 144 million years ago and made possible an environment in which humans could exist. In light of that fact, it is not a stretch to say we owe our very being to bees.
FT: How is honey good for our health?
KB: I had pretty bad allergies before I started eating honey daily about six years ago. Also, there are several studies that show honey is very good for treating high blood pressure, stabilizing spikes in blood sugar, and even as a balm for skin ailments. Click here for more info.
FT: Why do you think your honey business has grown 300% since you started a few years ago?
KB: The main reason Round Rock honey has done so well is because our honey tastes really, really good. The second reason is that we use ecologically sound, yet highly creative methods for handling our bee, their hives, and the honey they make. The third reason is because we totally and forcefully rejected, from the very beginning, the accepted practices of the majority of American beekeepers by refusing to use pesticides or hormones. Fourth, we don’t isolate ourselves from the community by placing our hives away from the public. Instead, we encourage our customers to join us in creating great honey (even if they don’t have any experience at all as beekeepers) by allowing us to place hives on their land (if their land passes soil and water tests). We also offer beekeeping classes, and free removal of feral hives, which allows the public to open their minds and hearts to the incredible world of bees and beekeeping, and teaches them to respect, but not fear, bees.
FT: Where’s the future leading you in the honey biz?
KB: My goal is to have 5-6,000 hives by this time next year. If that happens, it will make us the largest honey farm of our type anywhere in the USA. With largeness, we will be in a position to really influence and challenge the huge beekeeping companies out there. Also, I’ve been asked to teach a beekeeping class at a local university. I hope to put a lot of energy into my beekeeping course there, and influence as many young minds as possible with the turn-on of organic beekeeping.
FT: Any honey trend we should know about before it becomes mainstream?
KB: I’m betting the unique characteristics of the my company will be copied shamelessly, and I’m ok with that because it means more people will be raising bees and producing high-quality honey. Ecologically speaking, only good can come from that.
NOTE: Keep your eyes peeled for FT's next posting on Round Rock's Honey tasting notes, tips for buying honey (what to look for or avoid) and we'll discover what it is about Konrad's honey that has the likes of celebs Sandra Bullock and Matthew McConaughey swooning over the sweetness.
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