Honey Time!

This post is for all you who have been writing and calling me lately.... THE HONEY IS READY!

Most of you probably know that my husband is a beekeeper. This is a side job he has held for about 3 years now. He really enjoys it, and has gotten quite good at it. I must admit, there is a lot more work involved in raising bees than I ever realized. Probably 9 months out of the year he tends to them, all in preparation for the one time per year when we harvest the honey to sell. It is a job that involves dressing in a bee suit during the hottest months of the year, getting stung, while going to great lengths to fight off pests and critters who would love to get a taste of the sweet stuff inside the hives.

So, last Monday I spent my time doing something I never imagined I would do..... I stood in a bee suit in 95 degree weather, using a leaf blower to blow bees off their hives while my husband took all the frames of honey and loaded it into his truck.

YIKES!

I am happy to say that I did not get stung, but probably because I was dressed with enough layers to play in the snow and I stood as still as I could get away with!

Thankfully my role did not last too long! Needless to say I was a little nervous. I am pretty comfortable around bees most of the time but it's a lot different when there are thousands of them flying around checking you out!

Once we got home Chip got to work extracting the honey, and has now gotten it into bottles. It was a long process. He was up most of the night. I sat and watched him for a while, but my OCD aversion to anything sticky sent me upstairs to bed.

Finally, the finished product was waiting when I got up the next morning. Beautiful!! Ooooh, and when I tasted it! Yum! I have to say it is the best yet.

Yes, I am biased. Yes, it's the best honey I have ever tasted. Plus, my kids allergies have virtually disappeared! Seriously, the bees pollinate the things we are allergic to and bring it back into the honey. The more you eat, the more you build a resistance. It's like a shot, only it doesn't hurt and it tastes great!

So get some while it lasts!