Bee Pollen

Question: I am looking to the L.A. Times for help in trying to find out what is causing the orange/yellowish spots that are appearing on our cars in increasing numbers. I have lived here for 24 years and have owned white cars for all of that time. In the past four or five years I have noticed dark orange/yellow droppings on my car, about the size of a pencil eraser. Within the last two years they have increased in number. Once dried, it is very difficult to get them off.

You don't have to be an adherent of raw food (nothing heated to more than 115 degrees) to appreciate some dishes in the raw. A story about the new raw food restaurant M.A.K.E. and its culinary academy uncovers a cuisine that's coming in from the fringe. (Who doesn't love zucchini "noodle" lasagna, anyway?) "I think now a lot of people who are not strict about raw food are incorporating it into their diets," says M.A.K.E. owner Matthew Kenney.  Much of the cuisine at M.A.K.E.

Bee pollen is one of several bee products, including royal jelly and propolis, sold as a dietary supplement. Bee pollen pills and powder contain bee saliva and pollen collected from plants by bees. Some manufacturers market bee pollen as a nutritious energy booster, but more than two decades of use as a health food have shown that the product can pose significant health risks for some people.

Question: I am looking to the L.A. Times for help in trying to find out what is causing the orange/yellowish spots that are appearing on our cars in increasing numbers. I have lived here for 24 years and have owned white cars for all of that time. In the past four or five years I have noticed dark orange/yellow droppings on my car, about the size of a pencil eraser. Within the last two years they have increased in number. Once dried, it is very difficult to get them off.

You don't have to be an adherent of raw food (nothing heated to more than 115 degrees) to appreciate some dishes in the raw. A story about the new raw food restaurant M.A.K.E. and its culinary academy uncovers a cuisine that's coming in from the fringe. (Who doesn't love zucchini "noodle" lasagna, anyway?) "I think now a lot of people who are not strict about raw food are incorporating it into their diets," says M.A.K.E. owner Matthew Kenney.  Much of the cuisine at M.A.K.E.

With a smoke machine in hand, Bill Lewis removes the cover of a 10-inch-deep wooden box--and a swarm of 16,000 bees comes buzzing out. The key to avoiding stings, he says, is to not make sudden moves that would anger the bees. That's just one of the tricks he has picked up over the past 25 years since he began beekeeping as a Boy Scout in Wisconsin. "I'm addicted to bees--the smells, the sounds," Lewis said. "I don't think my life would be the same without them."

It's almost my turn and I'm going to choke, I just know it. I'm standing in the soothing Starbucks-meets-GNC portals of a place called Jamba Juice, contemplating the social significance of the latest beverage phylum--the Smoothie. Well, in truth, I'm simply dithering. Do I want a Peach Pleasure or a Citrus Squeeze? Is it possible to overdose on C? Will a Powerberry keep me up all night? And what about this crazy list of "inertias": bee pollen, oat bran, protein powder?

Next time you dip a spoon into your honey pot consider this: A single bee will only gather enough nectar to make one teaspoon of the syrupy sweetener during a short and busy life span--which can last anywhere from a few weeks to a few months. Honey is a crop produced in a wide variety of locations and climates. In North County, coastal areas are better suited to honey production because of the abundance of eucalyptus trees, according to Alan Mikolich, vice president of the Beekeepers' Assn.

As much as the men who planted the trees, it was the bees who put the Orange in Orange County. Living in man-made hives, the bees' purpose was as simple as spring itself--to pollinate the fragrant orange blossoms so the trees would bear fruit. But like the fast-disappearing orange tree, the bees have also become a casualty of the housing boom. In 1965, more than 200,000 beehives existed in Orange County, according to local bee experts. Only about 12,000 remain today.

And this is good old Boston, the home of the bean and the cod . . . . * And it was fine. It was fine if you liked beans and you liked cod and you didn't mind predictability. Because, after all, it was Boston, and it had so many other things to recommend it: Beacon Hill and the Back Bay and, some years, the Red Sox. Faneuil Hall and Quincy Market and the Freedom Trail. It was history and it was highbrow and if you happened to get hungry, the old standbys could provide sustenance.

Bee pollen is one of several bee products, including royal jelly and propolis, sold as a dietary supplement. Bee pollen pills and powder contain bee saliva and pollen collected from plants by bees. Some manufacturers market bee pollen as a nutritious energy booster, but more than two decades of use as a health food have shown that the product can pose significant health risks for some people.

And this is good old Boston, the home of the bean and the cod . . . . * And it was fine. It was fine if you liked beans and you liked cod and you didn't mind predictability. Because, after all, it was Boston, and it had so many other things to recommend it: Beacon Hill and the Back Bay and, some years, the Red Sox. Faneuil Hall and Quincy Market and the Freedom Trail. It was history and it was highbrow and if you happened to get hungry, the old standbys could provide sustenance.

With a smoke machine in hand, Bill Lewis removes the cover of a 10-inch-deep wooden box--and a swarm of 16,000 bees comes buzzing out. The key to avoiding stings, he says, is to not make sudden moves that would anger the bees. That's just one of the tricks he has picked up over the past 25 years since he began beekeeping as a Boy Scout in Wisconsin. "I'm addicted to bees--the smells, the sounds," Lewis said. "I don't think my life would be the same without them."

It's almost my turn and I'm going to choke, I just know it. I'm standing in the soothing Starbucks-meets-GNC portals of a place called Jamba Juice, contemplating the social significance of the latest beverage phylum--the Smoothie. Well, in truth, I'm simply dithering. Do I want a Peach Pleasure or a Citrus Squeeze? Is it possible to overdose on C? Will a Powerberry keep me up all night? And what about this crazy list of "inertias": bee pollen, oat bran, protein powder?

As much as the men who planted the trees, it was the bees who put the Orange in Orange County. Living in man-made hives, the bees' purpose was as simple as spring itself--to pollinate the fragrant orange blossoms so the trees would bear fruit. But like the fast-disappearing orange tree, the bees have also become a casualty of the housing boom. In 1965, more than 200,000 beehives existed in Orange County, according to local bee experts. Only about 12,000 remain today.

Next time you dip a spoon into your honey pot consider this: A single bee will only gather enough nectar to make one teaspoon of the syrupy sweetener during a short and busy life span--which can last anywhere from a few weeks to a few months. Honey is a crop produced in a wide variety of locations and climates. In North County, coastal areas are better suited to honey production because of the abundance of eucalyptus trees, according to Alan Mikolich, vice president of the Beekeepers' Assn.

The young woman leaning over the glass countertop at Botanica Cristo Rey in East Los Angeles is distraught. With her baby at her feet, she explains that her philandering husband finds her unattractive. He hits her when she confronts him about his cheating--and she is in desperate need of a remedy for her deteriorating marriage. "This is war," shop owner Juanita Alvarez whispers as she beckons the customer to come closer. There is a store full of ammunition to consider.

Honey, the best-known bee product, has been valued by humans throughout history. But only recently has interest grown in another bee product, royal jelly. The substance, which is secreted by young worker honeybees, is a mixture of protein, amino acids, sugars and vitamins that is fed to the queen bee, causing her to achieve extraordinary size, fertility and longevity. * Uses: Some manufacturers claim royal jelly can fight infection and help prevent colds.