The Golden Nectar

Have you ever done a taste test with Honey??  Some of you might think, "What for? Honey is honey." So not true!  Honey is available in so many different "flavors" and from so many different climates, it can be mind-boggling.  I decided to try a taste test with a few different varieties for part of a 4H Cloverbuds meeting on honeybees.  I collected a couple of samples, some from local sources and a generic Costco brand.

We tried a fireweed honey and a lavender honey from Planet Bee, a basil honey from Bees Inc., a plain honey from Arlo's Honey Farm, and the generic Bee Maid from Costco.  Well.  The kids loved the lavender honey.  It was infused, in that the lavender flavor was added afterward.  I thought it tasted like bathwater.  Maybe if the flavor had come naturally from the bees collecting the pollen from lavender flowers, it would have been subtler, and I would have enjoyed it more.  To each his own.  The Fireweed honey was an all-around favourite.  The flavor was delicate and delightful.  Oh, but then the basil honey was amazing.  So clean-tasting.  Not like the costco honey at all.  The generic, factory-made honey tasted like goop compared to the small-batch, locally made honeys.  Fine for baking, but when you're actually going to taste the honey, like on toast or in tea, I'm voting for the local guy.

What is your favourite honey?

In a Bee Yard!

I did the coolest thing today!

I donned a bee suit and got to visit with some amazing honeybees!!  My friend asked me to accompany her to part of her honeybee course, as she was the only student and the instructor, Vic of Bees, Inc. thinks it's better if there is more than 1 learner.  Yay for me!  So I got a crash course in what the different cells look like -- honey cells, brooder cells, drone cells and we even saw a queen in the making!  Just. Totally. Awesome!

We (gently) took apart of couple of hives, checked for queens, dusted for mites, and even practiced marking a drone.  One doesn't mark drones normally, but Vic didn't want us to mess up marking a queen on our first go.  I really didn't know how I'd react, being so up close & personal with thousands of stinging insects, but it was so mellow!  The bees don't freak out if you don't freak out.  Hmmm.  This philosophy can be applied to other aspects of my life...

I'm not in a position to get bees - Yet.  But they will come.  Yes.  They will come.