A Win for Bees’ Needs and Mary Woltz

Bees’ Needs has won a sixth national Good Food Award (GFA) for the sixth time in eight years. The Good Food Foundation has recognized Bees’ Needs and owner/beekeeper Mary Woltz of Sag Harbor as having the East Region’s most outstanding honey. This year’s selection, black locust, met the foundation’s highest standards and was vetted for taste, sustainability, and social responsibility.

“I am thrilled to win again,” Woltz said. “The past several years have been among our most difficult in terms of colony losses and consequent shortage of honey available for sale, so we are pleased that our quality has clearly not suffered.

[caption id="attachment_55501" align="alignleft" width="225"] Beekeeper Mary Woltz.[/caption]

“Last year we purchased bees from a highly respected Vermont beekeeper in hopes of strengthening both our numbers and our own bees. This is the first time we imported bees in our 15-year history,” she added. “Mounting pressures on bees caused by parasites, pathogens, pesticides, and loss of wild forage called for a more aggressive response.  We’re hopeful these and other measures will allow us to provide a reliable quantity of honey once again for our local customers.”

Each of Bees’ Needs winning honeys has been different. Seasonal flowers and their nectars vary across the East End, and Woltz has a dozen or so different “bee yards” or locations.

“Diverse honeys are possible on the East End, but it takes extra care to reveal the subtle differences,” she said. “I love the challenge.”

The 2022 GFA cover 18 categories of food and drink. Honey was first recognized in 2015. The 244 winners hailed from five U.S. regions and from 39 states and Washington, D.C. Though Woltz regrets being unable to attend the ceremony in person as she has in years’ past, Alice Waters and legendary chef René Redzepi sent congratulatory messages to the winners. For more information, visit goodfoodfdn.org.