Monday, November 28, 2011

SO YOU SAY YOU WANT TO BE HAPPY...

...and you want to know how to be happy.

Think happy thoughts!

I could actually end the blog right there since there is no secret to happiness and there is only one act that creates that state. But you might get angry and that doesn't take us to the happy place.

"Most folks are about as happy as they make up their minds to be." Abraham Lincoln

There are two minds: conscious and sub-conscious. The conscious mind is the queen bee, the boss. The sub-conscious mind is the drone, the one that gets stuff done. Here's the happiness rub: the sub-conscious mind knows no limits and does whatever the conscious mind tells it to do...the conscious mind is built upon perceptions of reality, so-called facts, that are usually built upon negative mental constructs.

"Our vastly more developed brain is fertile ground for a harvest of suffering. Only we humans worry about the future, regret the past, and blame ourselves for the present. We get frustrated when we can't have what we want, and disappointed when what we like ends. We suffer that we suffer. We get upset about being in pain, angry, about dying, sad about waking up sad yet another day. This kind of suffering - which encompasses most of our unhappiness and dissatisfaction - is constructed by the brain, It is made up. Which is ironic, poignant - and supremely hopeful. For if the brain is the cause of suffering, it can also be its cure." Buddha's Brain by Rick Hanson, PH.D.

Science, specifically the study of the plasticity of the brain, is showing how the flow of thoughts sculpts the brain. This breakthrough, coupled with the study of esoterica and contemplative practices like meditation, means that anyone can use their mind to shape their brains in order to realize greater happiness, love and wisdom. Not to mention freedom from the disempowering memes that wreck havoc on our emotional body.

Conscious mental events are the result of a temporary coalition of synapses that form and un-form, in seconds,. Neurons can also make lasting circuits, which get strengthened each time
a connection is made. For example, some event happens to a child which makes the child believe he or she is unloveable. Going forward, any event which recreates that initial emotion in the child/adult, serves to "prove" the truth of the initial response. Each time that emotion is unleashed, the strength of the emotion is reinforced until that is all he or she believes to be true. "See, this just proves how unloveable I really am."

The thought the mind creates becomes a self-fulling prophecy because the sub-conscious mind brings to fruition that which the conscious mind believes.

This might seem to be an impossible loop to change. The concept of brain plasticity means that the adult brain remains open to change as long as we live.

The brain regulates the flow of energy and data. If we focus on how we intentionally direct this flow through our neural circuits, we can directly alter the brain's activity and it's structure.

Science has also shown that when compassion and mindful awareness is in our lives we can harness the social circuits of the brain to enable the transformation of our relationship with our own self.

That means we can intentionally create positive change in ourselves, in our lives.

As miraculous as the mind is, the conscious mind can only hold one thought at a time. If you are counting backwards from one hundred and I ask you to spell your mother's maiden name, something is going to have to give! If you are blissful about something in this moment and a sad bit of news comes to you, you will not be able to be both happy and depressed.

Step one in the art of happiness is to have a thought or a memory that is guaranteed to create a smile. Step two is the practice of becoming happy. When a sad, angry, fearful thought comes to mind, replace it with the "happy" thought. You can't hold both thoughts. Impossible. Step three is the 'taking responsibility for your thoughts' part of the process. You have a choice every time you think a negative thought: continue to wallow in it or replace it with something positive.

Try this for thirty-days. It's called "The Mental Diet" and you can find out about it in U. S. Anderson's book, Three Magic Words.

Many people who are working on this aspect of their lives use an affirmation, a prayer, a simple word they can repeat easily no matter where they find themselves, or short blessing to replace the disempowering thoughts when they come into mind. You can work with a coach or mentor, someone who teaches meditation. Meditation doesn't need to represent some Eastern philosophy, but can be viewed as a practice for calming the mind and letting happiness come in.

"It isn't what you have, or who you are, or where you are, or what you are doing that makes you happy or unhappy. It is what you think about." Dale Carnegie








Tuesday, September 20, 2011

No One Wants to Discuss "Poop"

Poop, as in the stuff that issues from your colon.

No one wants to talk about it, but how well your colon works is an indication of over-all health. The colon (large intestine) is five to six feet long and about three inches in diameter. Peristalsis is the rhythmic contraction of the colon designed to push feces through this tube-like organ. A backed-up colon is a toxic colon.

Unfortunately, in our culture especially, it is not uncommon to hear of clients whose "normal" rhythm only produces a bowel movement once every two or three days. There are many people, usually women, who have bowel movements every five to seven days...even going ten days between evacuation of the colon.

I repeat: a backed-up colon is a toxic colon.

Your poop can tell you a lot about what is going in in your digestive system. I could hazard a guess that most people look at their stool before they flush, but do they really look at their stool? Here are some of the things you can learn about what may not be operating at optimal levels, just by studying your own poop...

...undigested food particles in your stool are not normal and can be a sign of food intolerances or an inflammation somewhere in your digestive system. First of all, chew your food until it is liquid. Digestion starts in the mouth.

...diarrhea is your body's attempt to detox! Alternating between constipation and diarrhea is a signal you need to re-evaluate your food program.

..."rabbit pellets" can mean you are dehydrated or have impaired peristalsis.

...a larger than life bowel movement that is hard to pass is often an indication that your diet is based on too many dehydrated and processed foods, especially protein bars or shakes.

...feces that is hard to flush is usually lighter in color than a normal bowel movement and may point to a deficiency in bile, which the body creates in order to break down fats.

...if your sh#t stinks, detoxify immediately. Smelly poop is often a result after a surgical procedure where a general anesthesia is used, exposure to a toxic environment, or a diet which consists of processed foods.

Help is on the way!

Dietary and lifestyle changes positively effect a sluggish colon. While those are being put in place, becoming habitual, there is a group of exercises that can radically improve colon peristalsis.

Your abdominal muscles attach to the organs in the abdominal cavity of your body. That means the colon, too. By learning a specialized set of abdominal exercises and the specific order in which they should be done, you can "exercise" every part of the colon: ascending, hepatic angle, right transverse, left transverse, total transverse colon, spleen angle, descending colon, and the sigmoid colon. This results in creating the rhythmic contractions your colon should have in order to move feces through the large intestines. Done daily, you create colon health as you build strong, beautiful sub-umbilical abdominals.

It's a win-win!


Thursday, June 9, 2011

IS GLUTEN-FREE JUST A FAD...

...like hula hoops, the Rubik Cube, or Chia pets? I mean you can't even shop in a Safeway grocery store without seeing shelves devoted to gluten-free packaged goods. When something goes mainstream, it usually means it is the beginning of the end of the hype and we all sit back and wait for the next "new thing."

Gluten-free is no fad, people, and gluten-intolerance is no joke.

Gluten is a protein (gliadin is the actual name) which is found in grains like wheat, barley and rye. Foods made from these grains contain gluten. But gluten can be found is plenty of products that are not the usual suspects, like bread, baked goods or pasta. Examples include condensed canned soups, vegetable cooking sprays, artificial coffee creamer, some veined cheeses such as Roquefort and blue, communion wafers, lip stick and lip balm, glue on stamps and envelopes, toothpaste, cosmetics, lotions and creams and prescription drugs, health supplements, vitamin pills, and so forth.

But we have been eating and using these products for years. Why all of a sudden are we talking about gluten being a problem?

Let's face it. Modern day grains are not our grandmother's grains. And it starts with the soil. Plants grown in the few inches of top soil covering the earth carry the nutrients of the soil
in the roots, leaves and fruit of the plants. Back in the day, our farmer forefathers didn't use chemical fertilizers, anti-fungal agents, anti-bacterial sprays or toxic pesticides. There was no need for such additives and the soil was healthy, full of the microscopic life that created a fertile growing medium. The plants (food) grown in such soil contained the nutrients in this rich soil. In addition, the seeds used to grow the plants were probably heirloom seeds which ensured a purity of genetic material, if you will, from which our food was derived.

Those days are over. When industry turned from a war-time product base to a peace-time economy, the technology created to fight a war turned to how to make life "easier" for the modern homemaker...how to have foods that were processed for a long shelf-life, took no time to prepare, and could be grown in great quantities. Fertilizer, petro-chemical additives became a part of the food supply system in the form of soil and crop additives. Now we are dealing with seeds that have a built-in pesticide that turns away insects. All of these farming changes have created a "dangerous grain" and we are seeing the physical results of ingesting gliadin that comes from a toxic group of crops.

A person can become gluten-intolerant at any age. Just because you could eat your weight in pasta, enjoy toast for breakfast and cake for dessert when you were in your twenties and thirties doesn't mean that the bloated, tired, depressed, fat, chronically GI distressed person you are in your forties and fifties isn't related to your inability to digest foods that contain gluten.

Strong digestive health is a key component in overall vitality. The old saw is correct: we are what we eat and digest and metabolize. Many factors can wear down the integrity of the health of the gastro-intestinal tract and food sensitivities and toxins loom large in that equation.

Most people need to be off gluten. Recent research shows 1/33 Americans have celiac disease, the most extreme manifestation of gluten intolerance (UMD study). There is a gene for gluten intolerance appearing most commonly in folks of English, Irish, Scandinavian, Scottish, Eastern European and Jewish descent. Gluten sensitivity is common in those with alcohol and food-related disorders or a history of that in the family. This sensitivity to gluten is a risk factor for diabetes, infertility, osteoporosis, obesity and autoimmune conditions.

The good news about gluten-free products being everywhere is that is it really easy to go gluten-free now. If you could characterize yourself as fat, tired and depressed, you owe it to yourself to test whether becoming gluten-free could change your life. Try to go "free" for a week and see how you feel. If you don't know if you are sensitive to gluten, contact us and we can give you an easy questionnaire which will help you determine your level of intolerance.

My own personal experience with going gluten-free four and a half years ago manifested itself with rapid weight loss, cessation of all spring and fall seasonal allergies, sleep rhythms corrected to normal, and acid reflux meds no longer needed...to name just a few!

Gluten-free is not just a fad. It's the road to health and vitality.


Monday, May 30, 2011

STRESSED

Who isn't these days?

The pace of life is hectic...even if some of that is self-imposed and not mandatory. We are all juggling many responsibilities in our personal and professional lives. Unfortunately, our stress management skills or coping mechanisms may not be adequate to protect us from the ravages of the stress in modern day life.

Like everything else, change comes only when we decide we want to change. The first step in successful stress relief is deciding to make a change in how we manage stress. Then it helps if we recognize what our stress buttons are and some aren't so obvious.

Stress isn't going to disappear even if we pretend it doesn't exist or that we are handling it just fine! And like any new skill, it will take some practice to perfect once we have chosen a tactic for our own stress relief.

Most "experts" rank meditation as one of the top five relaxation techniques. All agree that everyone can benefit from learning a relaxation technique. The choice is ours. It doesn't matter which one we opt for as long as it works for us and we practice it regularly.

To that end, Legacy Performance and Integrated Wellness Center has developed a few things we think are of tremendous help in dealing with stress that may cause loss in vibrancy and health.

Simple as 1•2•3 Stress Management:

Step 1: Be sure to eat clean, nutritious food. This is essential in building a body that can handle stress. We have created The Training Table at our Center. Our clients can come pick up an organic meal prepared by From Seeds To Table for take home or to enjoy after a training session. We also offer Recovery Shakes and Protein Smoothies along with Purely-B Grapefruit Juices (stress destroys the vitamins in the body, especially the B vitamins).

Step 2: Use the highest quality, most complete whole food supplements during times of extreme stress. This helps your body deal with the destructive aspects of stress until you are less stressed and your body can manage on its own. As crazy as life has become, everyone needs a good B vitamin, vitamin C, adrenal support and some help in blood sugar stabilization.

Step 3: Create some stillness in your life! DiscoverHealth says "Every day, devote a little time to take yourself out of the 'busyness'game. First, eliminate all forms of intrusion. Then close your eyes, breathe deeply and let your thoughts float downstream like a log carried by the river. You can practice meditation or relax in a hot bath with aromotherapy. When a thought comes up, just watch it float away."

To that end, The Legacy Center now has a Relaxation Room. This is a soothing, quiet space that encourages meditation. Relaxing tapes specifically for calming the mind are available as are pillows, throws, soft lighting...all for your use as you seek to calm and relax.

In addition, for almost a year, we have been sponsoring Guided Meditation evenings. This is usually planned for once a month and we bring Trudy Evans, C. H., into our Center to teach and lead participants through meditation techniques. These evenings have been extremely popular and Trudy will come to the Center to do a private session, if a client so desires.

Stress doesn't have to be a constant companion. Learn how to enjoy the moment, live in the now, control a mind that is running at 100 MPH. Learn how to maintain health and well-being while repairing the toll that stress can take on mind and body.

If you would like to experience how calm feels, contact us for an appointment. Our email is legacyperformwell@gmail.com or 214-843-1184.


www.mayoclinic.com/health/stress-management/MY00435/DSECTION= relaxation&2Dtechniques
http://health.howstuffworks.com/wellness/stress-management/eight-ways-to-beat-stress2.htm


Tuesday, May 24, 2011

What the heck is ELDOA?

Do you want the simple answer or the complex one?

ELDOA is an acronym in French for Etirements Longitudinaux avex Decoaptation Osteo-Articulaire.

The English translations is LOADS...Longitudinal Osteo Articular Decoaptation Stretches.

(Now you are asking which answer is the simple one and which the complex, right?!)

We know that the human spine is a complicated and vital structure. Compression and articular blocks can cause pain, arthrosis, neurological pinching, disc compression and pathology, and articular lesions. ELDOA is a highly effective solution to these ailments.

An ELDOA technique puts the myofascial chains into tension around the point of a primary lesion, thus making the lesion point the center of decoaptive (separating) forces. This myofascial tension solicits a postural normalization of a particular joint, resulting in many benefits.

ELDOAs consist of very precise postures which target a specific articulation, providing relief from pain and recuperative balance. The advantage of learning these exercises is that they take only a minute each day to perform, while reducing pain and improving posture.

When I first became acquainted with ELDOA, I had pain radiating from my left glute down the outside of my left leg all the way to my ankle. I had "shrunk" from 5'6" to a little under 5'51/2". I had experienced what I called sciatic pain that actually kept me bed-ridden for several days. The pain was so excruciating that I could barely get into or out of bed and sitting down, even to go to the bathroom, was an ordeal.

I had never heard of ELDOA or of its creator, Guy Voyer, D.O., but I started doing L5/S1 (which creates space between the 5th lumbar disc and the 1st. sacral disc. I did this religiously, every night before bed, desperate for relief.

And I got it!

In just a few months, the pain completely disappeared. I am once again 5'6" and aspiring to become 5'8" (why not?). I have had the supreme good fortune to partner with Scott Herrera, who introduced me to ELDOA in the gym four and one half years ago. Through Scott, who is enrolled in Voyer's doctorial program, I met Guy and become a student of his work on ELDOA and Myo-fascial Stretching.

Legacy Performance and Integrated Wellness Center is doing ground-breaking work, integrating the ELDOA and MFS into performance and fitness programs with all our clients. It has helped our clients deal with pain and injury issues. Our semi-private training classes enable clients to work on their programs several times during the week as they continue to book one-on-one training sessions with us. The ELDOA program at Legacy is an indispensable component of our overall Wellness and Performance Programs.

It works.

Friday, May 20, 2011

LOCAL FOOD: THE REAL DEAL

It is a delicious irony that an article on "Top 10 Market Pointers" was in the same issue of the Dallas Morning News as "Watermelons exploding like land mines". If this doesn't reflect two ends of the food spectrum, I can't imagine what would.

"Top 10 Market Pointers", written by Kim Pierce, is a tip list on how to shop local farmers markets, from wine to milk, and covers every subtle nuance from what to bring (small-denomination bills and change and some flexibility!) to how to know what is in season and how "local" is defined.

"Watermelons exploding..." is an AP story straight from Beijing and has a great photo of huge burst melons in a greenhouse in China. Chinese farmers gave the watermelons overdoses of growth chemicals during wet weather, "...creating what state media called fields of land mines."
The article went on to talk about widespread farming abuses in China. The "drug", as the growth accelerator forchlorfenuron is described, is not forbidden in China; it is also allowed in the U.S. on kiwi fruit and grapes. The gist of the article emphasizes that farmers in China use both legal and illegal chemicals in their fields and misuse pesticides and fertilizers.

I immediately recalled the horror many organic food shoppers felt last year when they read the back of the in-house frozen food labels at Whole Foods. Several of the products were grown in China. Not what those shoppers were expecting...or wanting on their dinner table.

So the dilemma seems to be an old one: do we believe what we wish to believe because it makes our life easier or do we take responsibility for our choices by doing the research required to be sure we are getting what we truly want. And who can you trust?

Local farmers markets have different rules, some insisting that produce be grown within a 150-mile radius while others allow vendors to mix local and imported in order to offer a wider variety of produce. Obviously, some things are impossible to grow locally, no matter where you live. And there are farms in every area that allow you to pick your own produce so you get to see exactly where your food is coming from. It's a fun way to involve your entire family and give the kids a lesson in how food ends up on the dinner table. Seeing baby lambs might necessitate some talk therapy when the Sunday rack of lamb is presented, so be prepared.

Bottom line is this: it may become increasingly more difficult to guarantee clean, organic food as more and more large companies hop on the consumer ground-swell for unprocessed, unpolluted food sources. Some education and vigilance on the part of the buyer will be required. Being healthy, as Paul Chek always says, is taking responsibility for one's choices.

In a world in which, bigger is considered better and faster is a financial no-brainer, there are always going to be companies and individuals thinking only of the bottom line. I believe that things can be done the right way, profitably, and I try to support those folks who are running their businesses within that model.

Here are some sites to help you navigate the "mine field" of good, clean food choices.
Bon Apetite!

www.westonaprice.org

http://www.t-nation.com/free_online_article/most/recent/the_truth_about_gluten?sms_ss=facebook&at_xt=4dbb346

http://www.healingtalks.com/activism/health-food-industry-predators/health/food/industry-overtaken-by- corporate-predators/

www.pickyourown.org/TXharvestdates.htm

dallasnews.com/farmersmarkets
(for a map of area markets)

Check out our past blogs for Clean Restaurants in Dallas...there a alot of great places to get wild, grass fed, local and delicious!




Tuesday, April 19, 2011

MOVEMENT: IT'S LIFE

We've all heard it: use it or lose it! While cliche, it is true. The unspoken message in that slogan is that a body has to move or perish.

Think about what the lack of movement represents in the following things:
a river, clogged by trash and debris or sediment...a motorless sail boat, on a calm and windless sea...a vascular system, its veins and vessels filled with plaque...a colon, with faulty peristalsis...sexual organs, without sexual activity...a sports team, with no offense.

Without movement, there can be no life.

As Paul Chek writes, in "How to Eat, Move, and Be Healthy", movement is the path to optimal health. Of course, we think about movement as a part of an exercise or fitness program, but health and wellness cannot be achieved in a stagnate body. If the body systems are not operating effectively and as they were designed, the heart can't pump the blood, the lungs and diaphragm cannot bring fresh air to the tissues, the liver and kidneys cannot detox, the stomach cannot digest food, the colon cannot remove the waste. Neither can the mind adopt new ideas or adapt to new situations if mired in stagnate memes and thought patterns. Emotional wounds won't heal in a body that hangs on, rather than learning how to move on.

At The Legacy Center, we have a Simple as 1-2-3 Wellness Program. Step 1: start to move.

Movement can be as simple as a short walk through your neighborhood or on a city maintained walking trail. Studies show that walking is an effective means of weight loss, helps in creating and maintaining bone density (of some importance as men and women age), and actually keeps our brains young by creating new neural pathways in the hippocampus.

Exercise places stress on the body (for example, weight bearing exercises that create bone strength). In a healthy individual, this is a good thing. However, exercise should never introduce stress to your life. By that I mean, that the very thing you are trying to bring into your life to create well-being should not create mental or emotional stress and should not be a type of exercise that your body is not ready to handle without deleterious effects.

All exercise is not created equal and neither are all trainers!

In Legacy's Simple as 1-2-3 Wellness Program, our main goal is to help you implement a program to improve your health, vitality, and fitness level. An assessment allows us to create a program just for you which takes into account the time you have to devote to exercise, your level of overall fitness, any injuries you may be dealing with, and your personal objectives. You can be well (no aches or pains, no illness or disease, no Rx meds) and be so weak you can't life your sack of groceries out of the trunk. You can be strong-like-bull and have a compromised immune system or a gut lining that cannot extract nutrition from the food you lovingly shop for and prepare each day. We take all this into account as we craft your program.

There is movement to build energy, movement for cardio work, endurance, to firm and tone, for sports specific training, stretching and relaxation. To begin, pick a form of movement that gets you outside and is fun! While it may sound great to begin a boot camp type program, you will stick with something longer if it is something you really enjoy doing and if that something matches your needs and current abilities.

Flexibility exercises are designed to bring your body into balance. Energizing exercises build vitality, can be done anywhere, and include slow walking and walking meditation. Core conditioning supports internal organs, protects the spinal cord, helps with circulation and visceral health and is the foundation for movement.

Create some Simple as 1-2-3 Movement in your day and you will create vibrancy and health in your life!


Thursday, March 24, 2011

WALK THIS WAY!

An article in yesterday's Dallas Morning News stated that the U.S. obesity rate is much higher than Canada's. How we eat and move factors into how healthy and fit we are.

If one is over-weight, the prospect of beginning an exercise program can be daunting. One of the best forms of exercise is one of the simplest: walking!

"Epidemiologic studies have provided strong evidence that sedentary (activities) such
as prolonged TV watching is an important risk factor for obesity and type 2 diabetes,
whereas increasing physical activity including brisk walking is associated with weight
maintenance and a lower risk of obesity and type 2 diabetes."
Diet and Physical Activity in the Prevention of Obesity
by Frank B. Hu

GET AND STAY ACTIVE. Adding a 30-minute brisk walk four days a week can almost double your rate of weight loss. You can still get benefits from exercise, even if you break it into several short sessions, such as 10 minutes, three times a day. (This is from Mayo Clinic Women's HealthSource, Special Report: Weight Control) In addition, exercise is one of the most effective ways to preserve and protect your joints.

"Walking is one of your best bets for a starter aerobic exercise."
Mayo Clinic Women's HealthSource, Special Report: Joint Health

EXERCISE BOOSTS BRAIN POWER, according to The Research Report, New Medical Findings, in The Wall Street Journal, 2-22-11:

"A growing body of evidence has pointed to aerobic exercise as a low-cost hedge against
neurocognitive decline."

This means that a walking program can effect the size of the hippocampus by 2% in a year, so walking improves memory!

Walking is one of the seven primal movement patterns; it is an exercise anyone can do without thinking. This allows the walker to access the mind...creating, problem solving, planning, and thinking while walking.

Walking calms the nervous system, strengthens bone density as you work against gravity (weight bearing exercise), and consumes more METs than lower-intensity activities such as Yoga.

Walking requires no fancy equipment...everyone knows how to walk...the exercise is an close as your front door...outdoor exposure to sunlight creates crucial Vitamin D supplementation...and has social benefits, if done with others.

Legacy Performance Center has a "Walk this Way!" program Wednesday evenings at 6:00 PM and Friday mornings at 10:30 AM, beginning April 6th. Join us and get healthy.

WELLNESS STARTS HERE!




Friday, March 4, 2011

BEE-ing

What a treat to have Brandon Pollard, co-founder of Texas Honeybee Guild at The Legacy Performance Center last night!

Brandon was drafted by the MLS in 1996, right out of college, coming to Dallas to play for the Burn. He was at the Atlanta Olympics. He retired from soccer early: perhaps because he began to have close encounters with bees in his apartment. For days on end, one summer, they started to swarm into his open kitchen window! These experiences were not menacing. Rather, Brandon took it as a sign to which he was supposed to pay attention.

So, ten years ago, he became a Bee Wrangler!

His knowledge is phenomenal and his passion makes you want to sign up for an Adopt-A-Hive program, praying you will pass the vetting process and have the privilege of a hive to tend and watch over.

As an Urban Beekeeper, Brandon, his wife Susan, and all other urban beekeepers face a real challenge as they care for and rescue hives in a city environment. Sometimes, the safest place to tend a hive is on a rooftop somewhere. One of the roofs with the most cache is the Rose Garden on top of The Fairmount Hotel in downtown Dallas. Every week, Brandon and Susan can be seen ministering to the Fairmount Bees! For Brandon, this is such a juxtaposition of sensations: hearing the noisy traffic below, being dwarfed by the skyscrapers all around him, and reveling in the utter peace and beauty of a rose garden filled with his charges.

The more I learn about these miracles of Nature's engineering, the more I love bees! Truly, this critter that only lives for 40 days is a marvel of work ethic coupled with the aesthetic of a remarkable adaptation and co-existence with the environment.

In a Chinese experiment, it took 50 workers to pollinate what one bee would normally do and in less the time! One bee, living those short 40 days, spends her entire life making only 1/12th teaspoon of honey! Bees fly three to five miles from the hive in search of pollen to bring back! Bees can detach their wings during winter cold snaps, while tensing their muscles as a means of generating heat for the brood! Honeycombs within the hive are of different dimensions and the Queen uses her front four legs to measure each comb so she will know whether to lay a drone (male) egg or a worker (female) egg in each! She is able to lay a fertilized egg for either sex based upon the size of the empty comb! After sex with a Queen, the drones' insides rupture and they die instantly! After stinging someone, a bee disembowels itself when it pulls the stinger out of the person, thereby giving its life to save the hive if it is in danger! Bees communicate by doing a "waggle dance", which tells the others where the nectar is located!

Bees are for modern times what the canary was in the coal mines decades ago. They have much to tell us, but I fear we are not listening...GMOs, chemical treatment of soil and crops, pesticides...if it isn't good for the hive, it is not good for the people who benefit from the work the hive does on our behalf. Over 90 species of food crops depend upon the honeybee for pollination. Let's not wait to act until the shelves of our food stores are empty.

For more information on Brandon Pollard and the work he does email
texashoneybeeguild@yahoo.com
214-826-8696
Texas Honeybee Guild
Susan and Brandon Pollard
Urban Beewranglers

Bee Rescue and Relocation
Educational Outreach
Community Gardens
BEEscapes

Zip Code Honey may be purchased at Dallas Farmer's Market Friday-Sunday


"Instead of dirt and poison, we have chosen to fill our hives with honey and wax: thus furnishing mankind with the two noblest of things, which are sweetness and light."
Jonathan Swift