Local Honey - support the Cook County Forest Preserves

River Trails Nature Center on Milwaukee between Palatine and Lake Ave is selling honey from their very active apiaries.

At $5.50 per 1 lb jar, it's not the cheapest honey out there, but not a bad value either.

The honey is raw and crystallizes readily. The flavor is light, with fruity notes, perhaps something banana- or apricot-like. I'm trying to think of what to do with it. I'm thinking of a sauce featuring my garden's red bell peppers, and the fall batch of sorrel leaves (yes, I know to blanch them first) for chicken.

Hi,

A local beekeeper has been recognized for best honey

James Belli is not bragging when he says the best honey in the United States is produced right here on his farm in Wadsworth -- site of the summer meeting of the Illinois State Beekeepers Association on Saturday.

“Out of the 78 entries from across the country at last year’s honey show competition of the American Beekeeping Federation at Orlando, ours was judged the best,” said Belli as he moved around the nearly 200 beekeepers from all over the state on his 40-acre farm off Mill Creek Road.