Bittersweet Succession

Comstock's Magazine ^ | October 21, 2019 | Allison Joy

[2ndDivisionVet]

Woodland’s Z Specialty Food seeks to double the footprint of its honey warehouse and create a community gathering spot

The Zeldner family legacy is rooted in yellow star thistle. The noxious weed, an invasive species native to the Mediterranean region of southern Europe and northern Africa, covers an estimated 14 million acres in California. It grows densely and depletes soil moisture. It can cause a fatal nervous disorder in horses who graze on it. The spines that extend from the flower head, giving the plant its name, are the bane of hikers and grazing animals alike. For honeybees, however, the yellow star thistle is an excellent food source during dry summer months.

“People hate the plant but love the honey,” says family matriarch Amina Harris, who oversees the UC Davis Honey and Pollination Center. “And for the bees, sometimes it’s the only summer forage.”

Her late husband, Ishai Zeldner, used 180 pounds of yellow star thistle honey he procured from commercial beekeepers in Orland in Glenn County in 1979 to launch what would grow into his specialty food business. He loved yellow star thistle honey so much that, until that point, he’d been procuring the honey, processing it and giving it away.

[2ndDivisionVet]

UC Davis and Iowa State University have arguably the best two veterinary schools in the world.

[moovova]

Good story. I visited their site...they have a tremendous variety of honey.