Wax, Pollen, and Honey in the Market
Rendered by rafter beekeepers, this is what quality bees wax looks like:
Market wax, on the other hand, is not very clean or appealing:
Pure, raw pollen on the comb, gathered by bees from countless floral species, wild and domestic:
Raw pollen is rarely consumed by Cambodians; it's discarded by most local honey-hunters and rafter beekeepers. Pollen is, however, collected by some, and sold to unscrupulous buyers in urban areas, who blend it with water and sugar syrup to make "honey"... illegally, it must be said. Some samples:
Cambodian wild honey is a fragrant, delightful multi-floral blend of forest and countryside nectar that varies from week to week in colour--and in flavour that is second to none.
All too frequently, however, as you'll see in the photos below, honey--sold by the litre in Cambodian markets--is disgusting to look at, and tastes like sugar syrup. Here's why: 1) bees, larvae, bits of pollen, and wax are all part of the mix; 2) it actually is—more often than not—sugar syrup (a blend of water, sugar, and pollen), home-made in cities and towns, and dressed up to look and taste like the real thing. It doesn’t; but then, most buyers have never tasted pure Cambodian honey, so they wouldn't honestly know.
With no sense of moral obligation, even expatriate entrepreneurs have been in on the act, marketing home-made sugar syrup as Pure, Wild, or Natural Honey; and Thai honey as Cambodian Honey—thus duping tourists, as well as the general public!
Over the years, Bees Unlimited has worked with rafter beekeepers and honey-hunters, demonstrating proper honey-harvesting, filtering, and storage techniques, as well as wax processing; and provided them the opportunity to obtain higher prices for their better-quality products--always encouraging them to sell nothing but the real thing.
