There’s a reason that “honey” is a term of endearment. It’s not just sweet, it’s made with the utmost love and care. It’s also fuel for challenging times. Honeybees make the sweet stuff to get them through the winter. They produce enough honey to keep the whole hive alive—and then some. We humans use a bit of the excess for our own enjoyment.
Beyond harvesting honey, the best beekeepers ensure that the pollinators in their care are safe, comfortable, and well fed. One loving beekeeper, Ishai Zeldner, turned his passion for this process into Moon Shine Trading Company, a varietal honey producer based in Woodland, California. It’s part of Z Specialty Food, a family-owned business with several bee-powered brands.
Ishai’s love affair with beekeeping began on Israel’s Kibbutz Beit Hashita in 1976. He lived there for two years, harvesting grapefruits, canning olives, and learning how to care for bees in a communal setting. When Ishai returned to the United States in 1978, his career made a beeline toward honeybees. Ishai studied the busy, fuzzy insects at the University of California, Davis (UC Davis) and then kept building his knowledge while working for master beekeeper Clarence Wenner.
To outsiders, Ishai’s path may have seemed like a departure from his parents’ business, an upstate New York grocery store known for its wild game. When Ishai was a kid, he helped out at the shop, which also sold fresh vegetables and pantry staples. He founded Moon Shine Trading in 1979, using honey to connect this past to a sweet future he envisioned. The catalyst was a taste of Yellow Star Thistle Honey. This northern California specialty piqued Ishai’s interest in varietal honeys, which are made from the nectars of specific plants.
Varietals with vision
Each Moon Shine Trading honey highlights the unique qualities of a different plant species. Zingerman’s co-founder Ari Weinzweig is a megafan of Moon Shine Trading’s Meadowfoam Honey, calling it “manna for sweet eaters.” If you’re drawn to marshmallows, crème brûlée, or cake frosting, you’ll swear the bees designed it just for you.
Making wow-worthy honeys like these is only one facet of Moon Shine Trading. Helping people connect with nature—and each other—is the larger vision. One of the values driving this vision involves creating “a sense of togetherness that goes beyond transactional relationships, focusing on building a supportive and engaged network” that benefits the community. Sounds a bit like Zingerman’s, doesn’t it?
Varietal honeys are a vehicle for making Moon Shine Trading’s vision a reality, especially at The HIVE Tasting Room & Kitchen, where visitors savor innovative honeys and meads and enjoy farm-to-table cuisine. It’s also a place to learn about bees, whether you’re taking a tour, attending an event, or simply admiring the 2-acre pollinator habitat that stretches across the Sacramento-area property. If a trip to Sacramento isn’t in your immediate future, check out our Deli calendar of tasting events to see if we have any sweet opportunities to learn more about honey coming up.
Helping hives thrive
In addition to creating community around bees, Moon Shine Trading builds upon the strength of family bonds. Ishai passed away in 2018, but his presence is felt throughout the company. His wife, Amina, and kids, Joshua and Shoshana, honor him by carrying the torch forward. Shoshana leads Moon Shine Trading’s marketing efforts, and Joshua serves as nectar director, overseeing honey production. In addition to being Moon Shine Trading’s queen bee, Amina spent a decade as founding director of the Honey & Pollination Center at UC Davis’ Robert Mondavi Institute for Wine and Food Science. Together, these three bee devotees have turned Moon Shine Trading into a beacon of sustainability in the Sacramento area.
Moon Shine Trading’s production facilities are on the same property as the tasting room. The buildings consume no more energy than they produce through renewable resources such as solar power. Meanwhile, the landscaping thrives with minimal water and zero pesticides. These choices reflect a commitment to the health of humans, honeybees, and the habitats that connect us.
Moon Shine Trading honey on our shelves
@thehivewoodland
Each Moon Shine Trading varietal we carry offers a one-of-a-kind tasting experience and a fascinating story. They tend to fly off the shelves during our annual Summer Sale and the Honey + Halvah Sale, which happens around Rosh Hashanah in the fall, but here are some you’re likely to find next time you stop by.
Hawaiian Christmas Berry Honey: This varietal’s butterscotch-like sweetness is accented with jammy notes of fig and plum. There’s a hint of spice, too, the kind that can warm you up on a chilly winter day. In other words, this gift from Hawaiian bees is just what many Michiganders need.
Tupelo Honey: It’s fruity, it’s floral, it’s the title of a song by Van Morrison. The bees that make it live near the tupelo trees of the Apalachicola River Basin, a beautiful and biodiverse part of Florida and Georgia. In other words, they’re a happy bunch.
What more could you want?
Meadowfoam Honey: With hints of vanilla and caramel, this special treat reminds many of our shoppers of freshly baked cupcakes. Maybe bees make it for birthdays. Grace Singleton, one of the Deli’s managing partners, also loves how it offers “a hint of smokiness and a fruity finish.”
Northwestern Fireweed Honey: Made from one of the first flowers to bloom after wildfires strike, this fruity varietal is a silver lining in the form of golden honey. Pop into the shop and we’ll tell you more of this amazing story. Deli customer G. W. has been singing the praises of our specialty foods crew ever since she did just that: “A staff member gave us samples of lavender and Northwestern Fireweed honeys to compare. He told us all about the fireweed plant, along with everything we didn’t know about honey. Visiting was more than fun!”
Making the most of your Moon Shine Trading honey
Using varietal honeys isn’t hard, and it’s a chance to experiment. Plus, our shelves are filled with goodies that make Moon Shine Trading honeys shine even brighter. Here are a few ways to savor these sweet treats:
Next-level noodle kugel: Is noodle kugel a tradition at your Rosh Hashanah get-togethers? Grace says that swapping its sugar for honey leads to “increased complexity and depth of flavor,” especially if you choose a varietal. She recommends replacing each cup of sugar with ⅔ cup of honey and decreasing the liquid in your recipe by ¼ cup. “Using honey as the sweetener in a classic dish like noodle kugel is a fun way to experiment with this,” she adds. When you’re ready to get cooking, pick up some Lafaza Pure Vanilla Extract to make your kugel even more flavorful.
Top-tier toast: Combine equal parts of room-temperature Vermont Creamery Cultured Butter and the Moon Shine Trading honey of your choice, then slather the mixture on a warm and crispy slice of the Bakehouse’s Rustic Italian Round. It’s as splendid as it is simple.
