Bee-utiful!

   Today I came in to work to find a jar of fresh, locally-harvested honey waiting for me! Months ago, Patty Moore had been telling me about her venture into beekeeping, and I was so thrilled that she remembered to save some for me. It was incredibly delicious on my plain Greek yogurt that I had after lunch today. Click here to read all about Bittersweet Farm. Here's an excerpt:

          "Your honey is the end product of the little yellow English bee called Buckfast Abbey. They are relatively hardy, gentle by nature with good character, and are relatively virtuous as far as bees go. Like their Italian cousins, they love working on well into the autumn months, even up to the first freeze. The result is a singular mixture of flavors: dandelion, Dutch clover, native blackberry and an intriguing assortment of wildflowers from nearby fields. The result is a dusky gold honey with a flavor of early Summer rather than Spring. With hot biscuits, there is no better taste on earth."

   The rich, brilliant amber color of fresh honey is something to behold. And the color can vary widely; here is the Kansas Bittersweet honey next to some Missouri honey I recently purchased. I'm going to hypothesize that it's based on the pollen the bees collect, but I've yet to research it:

   There's a good chance that I'm allergic to bees, given that both my parents are. But they are such fascinating creatures & I'm a big fan of the fruits of their labor, so I hope to take part in the process sometime. For now, I'll set about the process of making hot biscuits! 蜂蜜 

【はちみつ】が大好きですよ！