Ok, ok.  This is the second blog post in a row that isn’t a real recipe.  But I just had to share our newest kitchen creation – our very first honey harvest!   Those of you that know me well have probably been subject to one of my beekeeping rants in the past year or so.  From the swarms to the missing queens to the urgent need for more honey supers, I now know way more that I ever thought any one person should know about bees.

But, I have to say that I’ve come to find it to be a very interesting hobby for my husband.  Not only is he helping (if even in a small way) to protect the honeybee population, but he’s also teaching our girls a wonderful lesson about sustainability, the need to protect our environment and to have a healthy respect for nature and creatures of all sizes.   Here’s a photo of him from earlier in the year, all suited up in his bee suit (I call it his oompa-loompa suit).

This past year was a tough one in our part of the country – we had a pretty hot, dry summer followed by a VERY dry autumn.  Some of the usual pollen sources flowered too late or not at all this year, so some beekeepers didn’t harvest any honey at all.  We were pleased to be able to harvest about 10 pounds of honey – not a lot, but also not bad for a hard season and for our first harvest ever.

Our honey is a nice amber color, not too dark and not too light.   It has a mild fruity flavor, which we are attributing to the abundance of nearby pear trees.  I think it’s just delicious, some of the best honey I’ve ever had.  Especially in light of the recent press about “dead honey” in the supermarket – over-pasteurized and over-processed honey void of any and all health benefits – we are thrilled to have a healthy, organic product to offer our friends and family.

My oldest daughter named the honey “Buzzy-Pants Honey” and it stuck.  We just made a cute little label (complete with my 2 year old’s scribbles) for a few of the bottles this year – next year we’ll do something a little fancier.

Hope you enjoy the pictures – I promise to get an actual recipe up here soon.