January 22, 2009

Honey Harvest


Full inspection underway. Two combs have been harvested and placed in the Honey Files. It'll fit 7 bars easily.

Bar 5 has been flipped around so both halves of the tiny Winter Cluster are visible.

The girls had uncapped and eaten a small amount of honey. There is also pollen nearby (the dark area on the left) and empty brood cells (dark area on the right).

Close-up of the Winter Cluster. We plucked the
girls off one-by-one and still no Queen.


Pure Honey
Delicious on this morning's oatmeal.

The honey is from Spring nectar and is very pale. When you first cut the comb, the honey that first runs out is super clear and glisteny. The more you mess with the comb, the cloudier and thicker the honey gets, but it's just as delicious. How's it taste?

Well, of course it's sweet, but there's something else about it. The flavor of raw honey is ... hmmm... Have you ever pureed fresh berries and eaten it just like that? It's clean, and tastes like pure berry. But if you cook the puree, suddenly you have something "jammy" on your hands. Raw honey is to store-bought honey as berries are to jam.

1 comments:

Kitt said...

Aw, poor girls. I'm glad you were able to get some honey, at least. Better luck this year!

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