Fresh from the comb and redolent of lavender

[darkemeralds]

I was out in the back yard at dusk, working on Chapter 38 and listening to my fountain, when my sister and her son came over in a sort of triumphal march, bearing a small jar.





She's been beekeeping since early spring, and this evening she harvested her first honey. It was a pale, almost lemon yellow fresh from the comb, but it's darkening a little towards amber a couple of hours later.

There's a huge hedge of lavender just across the street from her hive, and the honey has a bit of a lavender flavor. It's complex and bright and intensely sweet. My nephew said, "It's so amazing. We didn't add sugar or anything--it just comes this way naturally."

Comments

[lamentables]

*licks*

I find the idea of beekeeping both very attractive and somewhat scary.

[darkemeralds]

My sister has taken to it completely. She reports feeling in tune with her bees, and that they know her. She says it's one of the most wonderful things she's ever done.

It's pretty amazing to look into the hive, I have to say, and our little corner of the neighborhood has a lot of honeybees this year, which is more than most corners of most neighborhoods can claim, so it's been a great thing all around.

Definitely not for everyone, though.I asked her whether she'd been stung harvesting the honey last night and she shrugged and said, "Only a couple of times."

[lamentables]

Of course, I knew there was a reason I keep putting the idea aside - abrinsky is highly allergic to bee stings. Got stung the first time we went to India, just at the top of his nose between his eyebrows, and his whole face swelled for days. He could barely open his eyes. Nope, not something I should be considering.

[kis]

I don't like honey but I love the idea of bee-keeping, so I'm impressed, and also vaguely envious.

[darkemeralds]

The honey, of course, is only part of the picture--and for my sis, only a secondary consideration. The bees are almost like pets to her. She feels very attached to them. And there's the satisfaction of actually having 20,000 honeybees out pollinating the neighborhood and filling a sad, sad gap in the ecology of the region.

[starfishchick]

That is awesome!!

[darkemeralds]

It's pretty cool. :D

[ruric]

I love honey (and the idea of keeping bees) alas I remember too well how much it hurt last time I got stung by a bee. *G* I think I might be a tad allergic because I honestly thought someone had shoved a stiletto into my spine and I couldn't catch my breath for a good 10 mins afterwards.

Local lavender flavoured honey sounds absolutely delish!

[darkemeralds]

Oh dear. It does kind of sound like beekeeping might not be your best thing ever. :D

The honey is absolutely wonderful. I'm eager to try it in a whisky toddy. Good honey makes almost as much difference to the outcome of one of those as good single malt does.

[vampirefan]

omg that sounds awesome! i don't really like honey. i've tried! i would love to use something that's naturally sweet, but for some reason, just haven't liked it. maybe i need to try some other "flavors". i've bought the regular little bear bottle.

my dad loves honey though. when i go somewhere where they have honey packaged with a piece of honeycomb, i buy it for him. he likes chewing the honeycomb and eats honey pretty much every day with raw whole oatmeal and bananas

[darkemeralds]

Kispexi doesn't like honey either. I can understand why, even though I love it myself. It's...odd. And you don't want to think a great deal about where it comes from, really. But it's amazing stuff. Never goes bad, natural preservative, etc.

Have you tried agave? Trader Joe's has begun selling it at a fairly reasonable price. It has a lot of sweetening power, but tastes very different from honey--a bit like golden syrup, a tiny bit caramel-y. It's good. I like it on pancakes, and I've been using it in my yogurt. Apparently the body digests it much more slowly than sugar, which is what makes it a good substitute if blood sugar is an issue.

[twasadark]

How awesome! You're nephew is so sweet! :-)

[darkemeralds]

He's a wonderful kid. I enjoy his company a lot.

[lyr]

Mmm, fresh lavender honey. I'm envious!

[darkemeralds]

It has been a treat.