When most people travel, they buy mugs, postcards and T-shirts for souvenirs. Lauren Rusert comes home with honey. More than 40 jars and bottles of the sweetener are lined up on a shelf in her kitchen, representing producers from as far away as Brazil, Argentina, Italy, France and Spain.

Rusert’s fascination with honey was sparked in 2003 when she was a high school freshman in California.

"A friend’s mom asked if I wanted to help extract honey from their hives," she said. "That was an amazing experience, and from then on, I started learning everything I could about bees and honey."

Later, Rusert started collecting honey wherever she went. Today, her ever-changing assortment includes several varieties from a Maui beekeeper that are mixed with pollen, which purportedly relieves symptoms of allergies.

"All of my honeys taste different," Rusert said. "There are probably as many descriptors for honey as there are for wine. For example, some are nutty, others are buttery, still others are tangy. I drizzle honey on cereal, put it in tea and coffee, spread it on bread and crackers, and substitute it in recipes that call for sugar. Honey is versatile; if you like to cook, you can get really creative with it."

Rusert is the apiary associate for the state Department of Agriculture’s Pacific Cooperative Studies Unit. One of her responsibilities is to help manage research bee colonies that have been bred to fend off the varroa mite and small hive beetle, which devastated bee populations statewide several years ago.

She also volunteers as the public relations coordinator for the Hawaii Honey Festival, spearheaded by the Hilo-based Big Island Beekeepers Association to raise awareness about the importance of honeybees as pollinators and to foster people’s appreciation for local raw natural honey.

This year’s second annual event will feature children’s activities, including a scavenger hunt, face painting and bee box painting. Attendees can get close-up looks at observation hives, learn about pests threatening bees and talk story with 20-year-old Susannah Austin, the reigning American Honey Queen. In that capacity, she’s the spokeswoman for the American Beekeeping Federation, which represents beekeepers and honey producers throughout the United States.

There will also be live music, beekeeping and mead-making demonstrations, and booths selling honey turkey corn dogs, honey grilled vegetables, honey macadamia nut brie, honey pumpkin tarts, honey lilikoi punch and more.

In addition, festivalgoers will be able to taste all 64 entries in this year’s Hawaiian Natural Honey Challenge and vote for their favorites in the People’s Choice category. BIBA launched the juried event in 2010 to recognize Hawaii’s unique honeys and hardworking beekeepers.

To compete in the challenge, producers must use a natural process, meaning their honey can’t be heated or contain additives that enhance its taste, texture and color. On Nov. 4, a panel of nine judges rated each entry on appearance, aroma, texture, taste and floral source in liquid, solid (crystallized and spreadable) and honeycomb categories. All the winners, including the People’s Choice, will be announced at the festival.

"Nowhere else will people be able to try more than five dozen tropical honeys in one place," said Rusert, who has judged the challenge for three years. "Entries came from Oahu, Maui, Kauai and the Big Island, and the variation was remarkable. The wide range of characteristics was due to the different flowers bees visited to collect nectar."

The honey entered in this year’s challenge came from about 15 floral sources, including guava, lychee, coffee, coconut, eucalyptus, jaboticaba and macadamia. According to Rusert, it’s common for honey to be a blend of one primary floral source and traces of others. Honey from a single floral source is rare because bees can travel a few miles from their colony to gather different nectars to make honey.

Lehua and kiawe (mesquite) yield single-floral honey varieties that are found only in Hawaii. Both grow abundantly throughout the state. The source for lehua honey is the blossom of the ohia tree, which is endemic to the islands. And although kiawe grows in dry areas elsewhere, Hawaii is the only place in the world where there are vast, dense forests of it. Once hives have been set there, it’s unlikely bees would stray and collect other nectars elsewhere.

Rusert believes Hawaii has the potential to gain global acclaim for its honey, just as it has with its coffee. The islands’ mild tropical climate means nectar-filled flowers bloom here year-round, which keeps honey producers busy year-round.

"Local beekeepers are learning how to expand and improve their operations, and many new people want to get involved," Rusert said. "The Hawaii Honey Festival showcases an industry that’s really buzzing right now."

Cheryl Chee Tsutsumi is a Honolulu-based freelance writer whose travel features for the Star-Advertiser have won several Society of American Travel Writers awards.

SURPRISING FACTS ABOUT BEES AND HONEY

» Bees don’t sleep.

» Honeybees pollinate 80 percent of the fruit and vegetable crops in the U.S.

» Bees can fly up to six miles at a stretch and as fast as 15 miles per hour.

» Their wings flutter about 200 times per second, which is the distinctive buzz that we hear.

» There are about 25,000 species of bees worldwide; only seven of them make honey.

» Honey is the only food that contains all the nutrients necessary to sustain life, including water, enzymes, vitamins and minerals.

» Because of its high level of fructose, honey is 25 percent sweeter than sugar.

» If it’s stored in an airtight container, honey won’t spoil.

» Honey is antifungal and antibacterial, making it an effective salve for burns and open wounds.

» A daily spoonful of honey supposedly strengthens the immune system.