Creamed honey has arrived!

What the heck is creamed honey, anyway? Other than really yummy.

It's all about making the fact that honey will crystallize at some point, work for you.
I take the freshly harvested honey and seed it with a small amount of creamed honey. This sets the pattern for a very tiny crystal to be formed throughout the jar of honey - instead of the large, chunky crystal. Then I mix and wait and mix and wait and do that some more - put it in jars and then set in a cool place for a few weeks.  I was only making this in the fall as the weather is too warm in the summer but a very kind neighbor has let me store it in her wine cellar which is a constant 58 degrees and it comes out perfect. Thank you kind neighbor.

The only problem with creamed honey is that it does not maintain it's creaminess if it gets too warm. Room temp is fine but not in a hot car or on a table in the sun. 

So I sent out a notice that the honey was ready and within a few hours I had sold most of it. Good grief! I need to make more but there won't be another harvest for a few months. Looks like I need to be working a few more hives. I have some offers of land here and there where folks want bees so I might do that. If you know of anyone who wants bees on their land in trade for honey, please let me know.


  

Honey Is Here!

Yes, I have honey! And eggs!
I will be selling the eggs mostly on the weekend and that gives me a few days to collect enough.
The egg of a free-range chicken has more Omega-3 than a serving of salmon. You can tell by the intense color and great flavor. You will be hooked if you haven't had them before.

Are You My Mommy?

We ended up with three roosters, thanks to Chester. And they all looked like this hen. Unfortunately I could not always find the nests in time and out would walk a chicken with 15 babies and half of them looked like this and were non-egg-layers (if you know what I mean). So Chester and his sons went to the feed store to be sold to someone who needed a rooster and we are back to just hens. It is so much calmer around here now.
These babies replaced the roosters and are good layers. But I didn't want to raise them myself. Enter this crazy brooding hen. I snuck out there and distracted her long enough to set the baby next to her and they just instinctively knew to snuggle under her. I took this photo a few minutes later when they came out to explore. I swear this chick was bonding with her. Although a second later the chick pecked the mom in the beak.
This hen couldn't be happier now. She has a job and I don't have to clean up after these little babies. All is well in the coop.

The New Addition

Here is my third hive for this year. We went into the Fall with two hives and lost a queen at a critical juncture. So I put the wild hive with the remaining bees and had a huge group that made it through our very mild winter. That hive was split this Spring and I was lucky enough to find a queen for the split so we are off to a good start.
The hive above is a swarm that came from the Palmer's vineyard a few weeks ago. They are all settled in and working like crazy.
I have a already harvested twice this year and made creamed honey from the first batch. It's phenomenal!
Decided to buy one batch of bees to make sure I had a strong second hive (back before the split) so I will pick those up this weekend. Those will come from BeeKind in Sebastopol.

Winter's Honey - it's sooooo yummy!

 

Here are the last jars of 2010. It's so delicious when I walk by the jar in the kitchen I can't help but grab a spoon and dip in. There's a little golden bee buzzing around the twine bow. 

So Raw Honey is great for grown-ups but not for children under 1. Everything that existed in the hive when this was harvested is still in the jar. All the nutrients and enzymes and pollen are still alive and well. Many folks eat local honey to help with their allergies. And because of the  benefits of honey to the inside of the body and the outside as well, you will find this in our hand and body creams and our soap.

A cup of Mighty Leaf Tea and a spoonful of honey - ahhhhh, best way to start or end the day.

Don't miss it! 

Raw Honey $10.00

Choose a Product

5oz bar $8.00 4oz bar $7.00 guest soap (3) $5.00 4oz body lotion $8.00 2oz shea cream $10.00 lip balm $3.00 beeswax lotion bar $5.00 1lb honey $10.00 3.5oz bar $6.50

Good News From the Hive!

 If you ran out of honey from the summer then you are in luck.
We have a limited amount of honey that was just harvested last week.
Only eleven 3/4 pound jars available. I will post an image and make them available
later today!
If you arrived at this post through a link then click on the company name above
and it will take you to the soaps and other goodies.