America the Bountiful

[Capri] The Great Plains of North Dakota plays host to a little seen workforce numbering in the millions.

Supported by attentive keepers...

Sounds like the bees are in charge.

The bees have certainly managed my life.

[Capri] ...these bees help North Dakota produce more honey than any other state.

The locals use their honey to create an ancient fermented libation... You're ready to be a mead maker.

Gorgeous.

[Capri] ...and as the centerpiece of historic family recipes... Oh, wow.

Look at that.

[Capri] .

..all thanks to these tiny honored guests.

I'm Capri Cafaro and I'm on a mission to uncover the incredible stories of the foods we grow... ...harvest, create... ...and celebrate.

Beautiful, amazing meal.

So, I'm traveling America's backroads to learn our cherished food traditions from those who make them possible... Look at that.

...and are helping keep them alive.

There is so much more to learn.

Whoa!

[Capri] On "America the Bountiful."

[announcer] America's farmers have nourished us for generations, but today they face unprecedented challenges.

American Farmland Trust works with farmers to help save the land that sustains us.

Together we can work to keep America bountiful.

[Capri] While North Dakota is well known for its wide opened landscapes and energy production, not as many people are aware that nearly a quarter of America's honey comes from the flickertail state.

The many lagoons and wild flowers that sprout across the prairies during summer and early fall present an opportunity for beehives here to produce over 30 million pounds of raw honey annually.

John Miller is a master beekeeper who helps manage 15,000 hives located around the town of Gackle which can produce up to 1 million pounds of honey annually.

[John] There's a lot of bees in North Dakota in the summer.

This year we had about 823,000 colonies in the state.

Colonies.

So, we had more bees than people, right?

Why?

Why North Dakota?

Good question.

It's landscapes like these that have a variety of flowers in them.

[Capri] And then what about the bees and their attraction to things?

I mean, why are those so attractive to the bees?

[John] Lots of vegetation is not self-pollinating.

So, you need that transfer of the male to the female part of the blossom so it can set a seed and have a new plant.

Bees do that-- Do that work.

They're worker bees.

The tree attracts the bee to do it's bidding-- Right.

--by yielding pollen which is the protein and nectar which is the carbohydrate.

There's so much science that goes into beekeeping.

You are an expert because your family's been doing this for generations.

My great grandfather started keeping bees in 1894.

[Capri] John's great grandfather, Neni Effer Miller, was a pioneer in the migratory beekeeping business taking his hives south to California to pollinate almond trees over the winter.

Beehives are cultivated inside of supers, cubed shaped boxes arranged in a stack.

Humans build a wood frame of the super, but the internal structure is created by the bees.

The hive is layered like an apartment building with a front door at the bottom watched over by special guard bees.

I've got to tell you, John, I'm nervous.

Well, don't be nervous.

They're just nice as pie.

-Uh huh.

-Trust me.

[Capri] Okay.

Okay, so this is our hive tool.

We're going to open the colony.

[Capri] Okay.

So, we're going-- There.

-Oh.

-Yes.

Now does it stick like that because of the honey and the wax?

It sticks because bees forage for and gather propolis, which is a tree sap, and they caulk all the cracks and the little holes-- They're very smart worker bees.

[John] They're very efficient.

So, we lift the lid.

What's the point of having this billowy smoke?

This smoke has been in use.

It's used globally by all kinds of beekeepers from Africa to Southeast Asia to North America.

And the whole idea is a little puff of smoke in your face does something to you, right?

[Capri] Right.

Sure.

You turn away.

Turn away.

That's exactly what's going on here.

[Capri] Now, how many bees are usually per one of these boxes?

Springtime, summertime, peak of summer, you may have 60,000 individuals.

[Capri] As the bees share nectar amongst the hive, their bodies break it down into simple sugars which form into raw honey.

Wax is secreted from glands on their abdomens and the bees collect it to create the hexagonal structure known as honeycomb which forms the internal structure of the hive.

When the hive has filled enough cells with honey, the beekeeper can remove the wooden frames to collect it.

[John] This is what we call the hot room.

And the honey flows better when it's near the temperature of the brewed chamber, 92 to 95 degrees.

[Capri] That makes sense.

It's like oil.

[Capri] Right.

It flows better when it's slightly warm.

Right.

So, we put it in this room to warm up for 24-hours before we run it through the harvest process.

[Capri] I see.

So, here's the frame of honey that's finished.

But this is so interesting.

This is why we love bees.

Bees angle the cell from vertical to 30 degrees off vertical because if it was horizontal the honey would all leak out, right?

Aw, that makes sense.

They're so smart.

So, we see that as the bees finish the honey, they close the cells from the bottom to the top.

Oh, wow, and this is like waxy here.

And that's the sealed part of the cell.

[Capri] I see.

And this is how bees store honey and it'll stay that for a year.

This is the good stuff.

Ah, that's what I want in.

That's why I'm here with the bees in the hot room.

It doesn't get more purer than that.

That's sunshine in your head.

[Capri] That is.

Isn't that awesome?

That is amazing.

This is probably clover honey.

It has a very nice mild flavor.

It's real good.

Yeah, this is better than the stuff you get out a little bottle.

This is as close to the hive as you're going to get.

[Capri] The relationship between bees and the plants they pollinate has a direct impact on the honey those bees produce.

Friends of John Miller, Chip Euliss and his son Ned, make honey together and they find inspiration and the diverse flavors of single pollinator source honey.

How many different plants need honey bees for that pollination process?

On a global scale, about a quarter million flouring plants that require pollen.

That's a ton.

But in the United States, we have this variety of fruits and vegetables that the bees are responsible for.

About one third of our diet is comprised of foods that are possible only because of honey bees and other pollinators.

No bees, no food.

No bees, no food.

You got it.

I'm going to grab these real quick.

And maybe you can help me understand this.

This is very dark, like molasses.

I've never seen a honey like this.

And this is very, very light, and I've never seen a honey this light either.

Why are these two so different?

It's because of the chemistry of the nectar.

Okay.

Each plant species has its own unique chemical properties.

That is Chinese tallow.

That was produced along the Texas Gulf Coast.

[Capri] Okay.

It's an area where a lot of North Dakota beekeepers start new hives every spring before they-- I see so they fly south for the winter.

Yeah, sort of on the back of a big truck.

Yeah, exactly.

[Capri makes buzzing sound] I've got to try this because in my head I feel like it's going to taste like molasses, but it probably doesn't.

But it's just because of the way it looks.

I've never seen anything like this.

All right let's see.

That is-- The only way that I can describe this is robust.

It has this really powerful flavor.

There's really nothing like this.

It's unique because of the chemistry in the Chinese tallow plant.

That's the reason that it's dark.

It's probably very high in different organic acids.

Now, what about this one?

[Ned] That's the basswood honey.

I raise that with my honey bees in eastern North Dakota.

[Capri] Awesome.

Kind of along the upper river or the north.

It is probably some of the lightest honey that honey bees can produce.

And it has a very unique kind of flavor to it as well.

But you can actually kind of taste a little florally.

[Capri] I'm going to check that out.

[Ned] A different taste to it.

Whoa!

You were right.

I think if you would've not warned me about the floral taste of like, there's some perfume up in here.

Yeah.

One of my first reactions when I got those floral notes is that it would be really good in a cocktail.

Oh, yeah.

I had some friends that were competing in a craft cocktail competition last fall and they didn't really find anything that had a ripe flavor to it to add to the drink.

And they finally came to see me, and once he tried that, it was kind of like you did, he was surprised at that florally kind of flavor to it.

Yeah.

It's basically a very complex bees meads.

They've taken it a whole step further, kind of fermented the tea water before they made the honey syrup and then a little bit of lemon juice and then some gin of your choice mixed all up in a shaker and pour it over ice with a garnish of rosemary and makes for a pretty good drink.

This is the most refreshing drink I have ever had.

It's like a garden of limeade with that florally note of this incredible honey that you all make.

This is perfect.

To bees, to honey, and to new friends.

And to North Dakota.

[Capri] While large scale honey extraction and apiaries like John Miller's result in millions of pounds of honey that ship nationwide, there are dozens of smaller scale operations like that of Becca and Mark Sperry in which the pollinator varietal being utilized is controlled very closely.

During the harvest, the planks are brought in and the caps are cut off the bees wax cells which contain the raw honey.

The planks are then loaded in a centrifuge, which spins and separates the honey which is then further refined and then collected in barrels.

The main byproduct of the honey refining process?

Beeswax.

I was really like, is this quinoa?

I have like no idea.

Like, what is this?

Didn't it look like sawdust?

It does look like sawdust but, you know, it does have a little bit of that stickiness.

[Becca] It's a little sticky.

[Capri] It's a little sticky.

We have drums of this.

We put them in this melter.

Okay.

We melt it down.

We do an initial filtering so we get most of the gunk out.

-The gunk.

-The gunk.

That's the technical term.

That's exactly right.

-Can I take a look in there?

-Yeah.

So how does this thing work?

[Becca] Don't get it on you.

Whoa!

[Becca]That's all melted bees wax.

How long does it take to melt that volume of wax?

We usually start in the afternoon and its ready tomorrow, the next day around midday.

So basically 24 hours.

I'd say so.

Maybe a little less.

A little bit longer.

So, you have to plan when you're going to pour.

Sure, absolutely.

Is this going to be ready to pour?

So, it's gone through at least some filtering?

It's been melted and now this spicket is not heated so it gets plugged up.

So we'll just give it a little out.

Give it a little TLC.

A little help.

That's what this screwdriver is for.

So, we're just high tech.

[Capri] That's clear.

And I can smell-- Yes.

--the wax.

It's interesting.

It kind of smells like honey, just a little bit.

It's got some honey in it and it will always retain that odor.

That's so interesting.

Well, that makes sense, right?

And I've got two filters in here.

So, we'll grab it.

[Capri] Okay.

[Becca] We'll bring it out.

So, we'll pour it through.

Quadruple filter.

And its quadruple filtered.

And this is the final filtering.

And this will give us that wonderful, clear, clean quality that we like to see.

[Capri] These look like soap bowls.

It would make sense that you would put something like this in a soap type mold, these little common molds.

I'm assuming they can just release really well.

They do.

You know, this will set up in about three hours.

Can I actually see one that's been setting for a couple hours that has actually hardened?

[Becca] Certainly.

So, it's literally just basically the same thing.

Yes.

Okay.

Look at that.

[Becca] It just pops out.

It's all set and that's it.

But there's so many things I know you can make out of bees wax.

I mean, obviously candle have to be a number one thing.

Oh, tons of people are getting into their own candlemaking.

And that's a market we're enjoying tapping into a little bit, the home candlemaker.

And food wraps, people are really into that.

Body creams.

Butters.

Lip balms.

You have some of this stuff over here.

I think we have a couple of items there if you want to check that out.

This is local.

That's a local company?

Oh, wow!

Wow.

You can tell that that's-- Also sheen too.

Oh, listen, they do a great job.

Oh, my goodness.

Well, you know, your products are only as good as the ingredients you put in them and when you have something that is this pure and natural-- Well, we like to keep things top notch.

It's like magic, but this is what nature created with a little assist from you.

Well, maybe a little bit.

We have fun with it.

[Capri] While the Sperry's sell their beeswax to customers nationwide, one of their repeat honey customers, Jason Kesselringm, is a local mead and wine maker from just down the road.

Jason requires high quality clover honey for his mead and prefers to source it from the Sperry's because theirs has a mellow floral taste.

Jason lives in the Sheyenne River Valley, just southwest of Fargo, and uses honey in the process of making mead and specialty wines.

When I think mead, I think like nectar of the gods, nectar of the Vikings.

Yes.

It's like ancient booze.

Yeah, it was the food of the gods, right.

And it really is just honey, water and yeast.

That's all it is.

And it's a lucky thing that you're here in North Dakota where they just make tons of honey.

Incredibly lucky.

It must be the will of the gods.

So, there's only three real ingredients it sounds like.

How do you assemble them and how does that then get to the fermenting process?

Maybe you can walk me through it.

Yeah, the first thing we do is we got water.

-That's a helpful base.

-We start with water.

So, that's the base of it.

And then we get the honey.

So, I can give you a paddle here.

Sounds good to me.

What kind of honey are you using?

We're using clover honey.

Why?

Why clover honey?

The reason we use clover honey is it's a very balanced honey.

It's the most-- It doesn't have any extreme sort of floral taste, but still has a very mellow floral, even a little bit of cinnamon.

That is gorgeous.

So, as we go here, we start stirring it in.

-Shall I?

-Yeah.

All right.

So, once you get this honey in, what's the next step?

I mean, here we have water and honey.

That just sounds like sugar water to me.

How does it turn into mead?

Well, that's the next thing you're going to do is we'll throw in some fruit kind of as a nutrient for the yeast.

[Capri] Okay.

[Jason] After that, we'll throw in the yeast, and the yeast will start converting all these sugars and alcohol and Co2.

That's where it really starts to move and it becomes alive.

The yeast starts chewing up the-- The yeast becomes alive.

It's a living creature.

[Jason] Yeah.

From there, we go on and we'll rack it after seven to ten days.

What does racking mean?

Racking it moves it from another barrel.

Basically we're getting some of the sediment out and we're getting to starting a clarification process.

[Capri] Got it, because you don't want all those little bits in there.

-Exactly.

-Okay.

[Capri] After a couple cycles of racking and fermentation, the mead is aged for up to a year in large stainless-steel tanks.

This is the moment I've been waiting for.

I've never had mead, but I'm really, really curious about your wine because it sounds totally different than anything that I've ever heard of because you use wild grapes that come from right where we are.

Yeah, literally we've cloned these grape vines from vines that are growing along the river here.

And it's been about a 20-year process to do that.

And we're the only wild grape winery on the planet.

Okay, so you've basically taken what you can find here in the wild, foraged it and then cultivated it to basically be able to harvest year on year and use it for the wine.

Some of it came to people that raise buffalo, I suppose.

[Capri] Interesting.

It's the same sort of concept.

Something that I feel like would only come out of the mouth of somebody in North Dakota.

Very much so, yes.

Yes.

So, this is the wine, right?

Yes.

This is the Nort.

This is a wild grape and back sweetened with honey.

[Capri] Now, this is a really robust color.

Quite a dark burgundy.

It's really rich.

It's not like any kind of color I've seen before.

I mean, I'll tell you it smells a bit like Port as well.

That's nice.

It's warm.

And I don't know if this makes sense, but to me I kind of get a bit of like a dried fruit, a raisiny note.

It really-- It mixes really well to it.

The dried fruit and that kind of darker, almost dark red fruit taste, it really contrasts that sweeter honey.

[Capri] To the ancient gods, the Vikings-- To the Vikings.

--and everybody else.

Cheers.

That's good.

Getting oaky, I'm getting dry and then I have that just touch of sweet.

That's kind of what's coming through here.

Yeah.

Yeah.

And a little more layers to it than with the Nort and the honey.

A lot more layers.

And almost a weird fruitiness to it.

That's what I'm picking up.

It's like, maybe it's the fruity floral.

I don't know, it's-- It tastes like nature to me.

It tastes like nature.

The perfect place to be enjoying it.

Perfect place.

[Capri] From mead making... ...to baking, honey has ancient roots in every facet of culinary traditions around the world.

For Elena Martinez Sylvestru those roots come from her home country of Moldova and are most present in a layered honey cake called Medovik.

I am really excited about this because I love food with a good story and some good history behind it.

Tell me a little bit about the history of the Medovik cake.

Am I saying that right?

Yes, this cake goes back into the 19th Century where a young baker was trying to be creative to make something delicious for the Russian Empress, Elizabeth Alexeievna.

So, he made this cake and presented it to her.

She took a bite and fell in love with it.

It's an epic success.

Something that's been going on now for hundreds of years.

And something that you grew up making as well.

Absolutely.

You are an expert at this.

Tell me how we're going to make this happen.

So, we need butter.

We are going to start with butter.

A bit of sugar first.

And then our honey.

[Capri] So, do you use a specific type of honey since of course, North Dakota is a major honey producer?

Yes, I do.

I use wildflower honey.

Now, this is something that you grew up making in Moldova.

So, yes I-- You know, honey takes me back to my childhood literally.

With this specifically as a cake, going-- For every childhood celebration especially when it's birthday parties, if you didn't have honey cake, everyone was like, "Where is the honey cake?

Like, we want honey cake."

So, great memories there.

Oh, that's wonderful.

I mean, I can truly relate to that.

That special ingredient that in this case its honey, but I think it's also love, you know.

Yes.

An experience and warmth and hospitality, and you're trying to chase that taste memory.

So, I got to like, stop and appreciate the volcano.

It's happening.

And look at this color.

Isn't it amazing.

Wow, now it's like a burnt sienna.

Yes, and look how it still bubbles even though I turned the heat off, you know.

[Capri] Yeah.

Tell me when you're ready for the eggs.

Okay, I'm ready.

So you are going to pour them slowly.

-Slow.

-Slowly.

And quick mixing it.

Teamwork, look at that.

-Teamwork.

-There you go.

[Elena] There you go.

There you go.

Go ahead.

Go ahead.

You'll see the color is changing a bit.

[Capri] Oh yeah.

It's getting darker.

[Elena] Darker yes.

Color intensifies even more.

We're going to add flour.

I can eyeball it.

So, we are transferring our dough from the pot.

So, this is really interesting because this is a cake, but I think when we think about cake batter, it's not nearly as thick.

You know why.

That's why it's an old recipe.

Like, old fashion recipe that my grandmother and my mother used to make.

And that's what's special about this cake because of the thin layers you create.

We going to create the layers.

Remember, we have to separate a little.

And we shape the little balls.

And I'll show you a trick, how I do this too.

I like a little pro tip.

Yes, look at that.

Just cutting it.

Sometimes if you want to get it super perfect, you can weigh each ball just to make sure the measurements are right.

So, what I do is like, go and fatten it up and then I get the ends onto my thumb.

Kind of roll it with my thumb like that.

-Okay.

-Just roll it.

You make it look easy.

I don't know we'll see.

So, how did you do that?

You just kind of like pinched it in a little bit.

Yep.

Pinch it in and then roll it.

Yep.

Kind of a slow motion there.

There we go.

See.

Easy peasy.

[Capri] Circles are cut to form each layer of cake.

And then with this, we going to find a fork here and do little pokes because when it bakes-- Yes, of course.

When it bakes-- Kind of like a pie crust.

Yes, get the extra air out.

So, there we go, and this will be ready to go in the oven.

[Capri] Elena builds the cake by alternating between a layer of cake and a layer of sour cream frosting.

Then frosts and coats the outer layer with more frosting and cake crumbles.

The cake is then topped with additional frosting and fresh berries.

[Elena] There we go.

The moment of truth.

[Capri] I cannot wait.

[Elena] Let's cut into this beauty.

Look how soft.

It really is.

Yes, you won't have a hard time cutting this piece of cake.

[Capri] Oh, it's beautiful.

Yes, look at that.

Oh, so soft.

So, let's see.

Yep, let's see.

You got it?

Yep, I think I got it.

Okay, okay.

All right.

Wow.

Look at that.

Let me just use my fork and just kind of-- There you go.

Beautiful layers.

Mmmm.

You feel the honey?

I got the honey on the back, and I'm getting a little bit of that raspberry now, that little tartness.

And I thought the graham cracker.

It's almost like a graham cracker to me.

Yes.

It's tastes a little bit like a graham cracker but it's so soft.

So soft.

And I feel like I'm tasting a little part of your history today.

Absolutely.

And that's, like I said, it's a little bit of hard work I think, making the layers and just preparing everything.

But at the end of the day, it's worth it.

It is absolutely worth it.

Thank you for sharing this tradition with me.

[speaking Russian] Spasiba.

[responds in Russian] [Capri] Across the Great Plains of North Dakota, millions of honey bees work tirelessly to produce delicious honey and pollinate the plants that fill America's grocery stores with fresh produce.

North Dakotans have leveraged their connection to honey to create a national industry and local connoisseurs, mead makers and bakers all cherish this unique sweetness.

But why take my word for it, when you can come experience it for yourself.

America The Bountiful is waiting for you and me.

For more information visit Americathebountifulshow.com.

[announcer] America's farmers have nourished us for generations, but today they face unprecedented challenges.

American Farmland Trust works with farmers to help save the land that sustains us.

Together we can work to keep America bountiful.