Sweet! Our first harvest.

July 21, 2009 - We have been 'beebeesitting' some bees for our beekeeper friend Philbee and he came out the other day to check on the bees. Well, lo and behold, many of the bees were swarming on the outside of the hive. They have been very busy bringing in bloomers of pollen, and apparently had outdone themselves, almost filling the one level of the hive. Phil raced back home and brought back another level, removed the top of our hive and discovered an overflow of honey. He scraped the raw honey off onto a baking sheet, gently sweeping honey drunk bees off. Then he put the second level on, leaving the bees to settle into their new digs. Phil tells us that the first year of establishing a hive you don't usually collect honey, as they need it to winter over, so this excess was a true bonus. I will never forget Phil handing Steve a chunk of dripping raw honey fresh from the hive and the look of both wonder and ectasy that overtook my husband's face. Indeed, the honey was divine. We now know what our land tastes like from a bees perspective, that's very cool. Phil gave us half the honey that he collected, and we dole it out as if it were liquid gold, and indeed, it is.