Thursday, August 23, 2012

Day #579 My Very First Honey


Honey! Honey! I have honey!

You’d think, from those exclamation points that I harvested some today, but the truth is that I’ve had it for about a month. And I'm still excited about it.

The hives that I donated to Rancho Alegre made it through the winter, but Rob said only one of them was producing enough to harvest. He gave me half the honey (since I gave him the use of the bee hives), and I ended up with TWO GALLONS of honey. 

It’s been so much fun, having honey to give as gifts. And fun, too, to watch the faces of my grandchildren as they discover real honey (as opposed to store-bought, part high-fructose corn syrup honey). This stuff is just plain ole downright delicious!

Because Rob harvested the honey in June, and I still wasn’t supposed to lift anything much heavier than a quart of milk, my dear friend and fellow beekeeper Geri Taran bottled the honey up for me in jars I’d been collecting for ages.

She even put on some of my stickers that say:

How do you know
it’s pure honey
if you don’t know
the beekeeper?

Here’s just one of the happy, beautiful jars:




BEEattitude for Day #579:
       Blessed are friends who help when help is needed, for they shall rest easy.

_______________________________ 
The teeny details:
my books:  http://www.franstewart.com Please buy them from an independent bookstore or directly from my website.

8 comments:

AggiePete said...

What a beautiful sight - honey from those blessed little fuzzies! That is simply wonderful!

Fran Stewart said...

And the taste is incredible. I miss my fuzzies...

Patricia Gerard said...

Oh, Fran! What a joy to see your blog active again. We've missed you and your stories. Gallons of honey, vulture pee, and kitty paws... it's been worth the wait.

Fran Stewart said...

You picked the three most important items, Patti!

The Cat Bastet said...

Hi Fran! I'm glad you are feeling better and blogging again. Congrast on the honey. It must be wonderful. :)

Cathy AJ

Fran Stewart said...

Oh it IS, Cathy. Rich and thick and luscious. I feel so rich with a big jar of honey on the table.

Geri said...

kensnuFran, I finally harvested some of my own honey. I didn't take much but I did get about ten jars of varying sizes. I discovered that the world's best honey comes from the bees in my back yard.

I'm also into "putting by" and to start with we, (my friends Wendy and Robbie) made 14 pints of sugar-free applesauce. I've also made some dill pickles and pickled cherry tomatoes, green and red. I bought all new equipment as my old stuff disappeared. I feel so lovely and grounded.

Fran Stewart said...

Ah, Geri, you are lovely and grounded indeed. Thanks for sharing your story.