Ag Officials Thanks Bees

Ag Officials Thanks Bees

Maura Bennett
Maura Bennett
The Department of Agriculture is starting the new year with a nod to honey bees and the folks who help them by keeping bee hives.

Department of Agriculture Marketing Specialist Wendy White says they have found a sweet recipe for Blueberry BBQ Sauce that will go well with wings or meatballs.

"And although the bees are not as busy this time of year, it's a good time to reflect on all the work that they've done previously. It's amazing that a honeybee actually will visit 50 to 100 flowers during a single collection trip. And a hive of bees has to fly 55, 000 miles to produce a pound of honey. So we're using this recipe to focus on our friends the bees and thank them for the sweet rewards they have when they're out their collecting their nectar."

White says Colorado has 33,000 bee colonies. Collectively they produce nearly a million and half pounds of honey each year. So add honey to the list of ag products that increase the variety and value of Colorado grown products.

The Blueberry BBQ Sauce Recipe is linked at www.ColoradoProud.org and we've added to this Colorado Ag Today report at www.aginfo.net

Blueberry BBQ Sauce Provided by Chef Jason K. Morse, CEC, 5280 Culinary, LLC and Ace Hardware Grill

1 Tbsp. Olive Oil 1/2 Cup Yellow Onion, diced 1½ Tsp. Fresh Garlic, crushed 1/4 Tsp. Red Pepper Flakes 2 Cups Ketchup 1/4 Cup Molasses 1/2 Cup Apple Cider Vinegar 2 Cups Frozen Blueberries 1½ Tsp. Smoked Sea Salt 1/2 Tsp. Black Pepper 1 Cup Brown Sugar 1/4 Cup Honey

Measure all ingredients ahead of time and hold next to the stove top. Heat a medium-sized saucepan on high for 2-3 minutes. Add the oil and heat for 1 minute. Add the yellow onion and sauté until just golden. Add the garlic and red pepper flakes and sauté for 1 minute. Add the ketchup, molasses, apple cider vinegar, blueberries, salt, pepper, sugar and honey. Bring to a boil, then reduce to a simmer. Simmer for 30 minutes until reduced. Turn off heat, remove from stove top and allow to cool to room temperature. Strain the sauce once cooled if desired. Serve with mini meatballs or chicken wings.

This is also a very busy time of year for conferences and meetings sponsored by the Colorado Department of Ag and Colorado State University which have several produce safety rule trainings coming up. We'll have details on those and more events in a future report.

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