Honey Tasting

I am so excited to be gathering gorgeous varietal honey and decadent honey sweetened goodies for the Honey Tasting at the library.

What is varietal honey, you ask?

Varietal honey is just like varietal wine - honey made from a single kind of nectar. For example, cranberry honey is made from the nectar from cranberry flowers. Bees will get on a type of flower and work it until it is exhausted (the flower not the bee). A beekeeper will put on a fresh honey super at the beginning of a flower flow and take it off when the flowering ends. That is a varietal honey.

What is so special about it?

Varietal honey has strong notes of a single flower - but it is rarely that simple. The flavors are normally highly complex and will echo the flower, the sun and the season of collection.

If you want to check out some varietal honey, I am leading a honey tasting at the Millbury Public Library on October 25. There are still some spaces available. Here are the details:

October 25, 2011

6:00pm - 7:30pm

Millbury Public Library

Register by calling 508 865 1181.

Goodies will be sent home with participants!

We're famous!

Check out the article in the DailyMillbury.com here.

Steve, the reporter was very brave - tho he never mentioned his own adventures in the story. He didn't blink an eye when I brought out the suit and veil for him. He suited up and dove in to the bees with me.

And thanks Steve, not just for a great story about bees but for your service to our country too! He was Special Forces -so perhaps it shouldn't have been a surprise he wasn't concerned about a 80,000 venomous stinging insects.

Drone Chucking Day

As I am slowly cleaning up for the fall so are the bees. I went out this morning to find a few dead bees on the entrance to the hives. What?

Then I chuckled, they were mostly drones.

The drones are chucked out when the weather starts getting really cold. Drones don't over winter as they don't really do a lot for the hive in the cold weather so the workers forcibly remove them.

I am getting ready to remove all the honey supers from the girls this weekend. Sun's hive is just impressively strong. Magenta's hive also looks great. I will do a deep check this weekend. I think Sun has screened bottom board which I usually cover in the winter or just switch out.

Here's to a last summer moment - sweet!