We have been so lucky to have had a passionate beekeeper staying with us for the past year, Tom brought with him loads of knowledge and an absolute love of bees. I love it when the focus of the beekeeping is not about the end product but about the health and happiness of the hives, spending time with Tom and the bees was a lesson in love and gentleness……
Having said all that honey harvest is so exciting! There is nothing quite like being in the kitchen surrounded by the thick smell of honey, everywhere you look is golden comb oozing with rich liquid , buckets slowly filling, children sticking their fingers under drizzling honey, sticky buckets, the whizzing of the separator and the complexity of textures and patterns made by the bees.
The honey is now waiting in buckets for the rest of the wax to separate before we jar in up and put in on
the shelf. Meanwhile Do has started to make up amazing ointments using beeswax and olive oil and the bees have nice clean boxes to start filling again….this time we have filled one hive with traditional frames (with wires and wax) while the other we have left for the bees to create their own warre style hive…….something I’m excited to learn more about.
