Honey and Ricotta Panini

Recipe courtesy of Annie Baum-Stein of Philadelphia’s Milk and Honey Market

Everyone enjoys a little sweetness in their lives. Sometimes you can find your sweetness in the people you know, or the stories you hear. Other times, all you need is to treat yourself to a small smackeral of honey. As a bee keeper, Trey Flemming is a cultivator of this wonderful and otherwise naturally occurring food favorite. His honey bees are his workforce, and like any good manager, Trey finds that the way to get the highest quality product, is to provide the best possible working environment for his employees. To this end, he decided to experiment and relocate his colonies of honey bees from rural Berks County to the rooftops of Philadelphia. In this episode of Friday Arts, Trey explains how he partnered with Annie Baum-Stein of Milk and Honey Market to raise bees in the city year round, where there are a greater variety of flowers and far less exposure to the pesticides and fungicides that affected the health of his country bees. They are calling their endeavor Urban Apiaries, and the honey is so good that local restaurants like Paradiso on Passyunk Ave. are letting Trey use their rooftops, in exchange for honey that they can use in their pastries. Not only are the bees making honey with a richer flavor, but city residents are finding that honey made from local pollens is helping to prevent the onset of seasonal allergies.

Photo Credit: Flickr