Tuesday, July 18, 2017

Summer Honey Sale Recap


Over the weekend I had my annual summer honey sale. My husband is really glad that one of my hobbies finally pays for itself. Plus it brings people to our house. You know how the extroverts love that. Speaking of extroverts here he is with my daughter. What a pair of social butterflies. 



Besides hanging out with the bees, a very introvert thing to be doing, it's the jarring, labeling, and stacking the honey that makes me smile the most. To see it all displayed like this after all those smoky sweaty days in the bee yard makes me super happy.




Do you see the huge variation in color? Y'all, I have never had that happen before within the season. Usually we have light sweet spring/summer honey and dark intense late summer/fall honey. Like this. And let me tell you, people have a preference! 


This year on one frame I had light on one side of the frame and dark on the other. One thing about bees is they always surprise you. We had a spring that was about 3 weeks ahead of schedule so maybe that's why.

The color variation is just astounding to me!



 The other thing you get from keeping bees of course is wax. It's an amazing product in itself. Did you know that bee have to eat 6-8 pounds of honey to create one pound of beeswax? Beekeepers treat the honeycomb like gold. It represents a lot of work for our girls. Have I told you I think bees are amazing? 

Oh, okay, just checking. 



I use the wax to make other products like lip balm and hand cream. It's fun to make your own skin care products and comforting to know exactly what's in them. I benefit a lot from all the testing I do on myself!


 This year I offered something new I've been working on: reusable beeswax food wrap. I use this myself in place of those annoying plastic wraps. Beeswax is naturally antibacterial and antifungal so it's the perfect food wrap or dish covering. As long as it doesn't get overheated it should last many months before needing to be replaced.



I also provided a couple of old standbys that everyone always seems to like, the honeycomb shaped soap is one. It has honey in the soap. Sweet!



And a salt scrub I make called Kitchen Sink because it has so many ingredients. Plus I use it in the kitchen on my hands at the end of the day as I kind of after dinner/end of the day ritual. Last year's scent was rosemary and sage. This year I went with tangerine and lavender. I dehydrate and grind real tangerine rind to go in it along with lavender blossoms and a host of other decadent things from nature.
                                           

Each jar is topped off with flower petals and a jasmine blossom so opening it the first time is an event!


A friend agreed to come and take pictures for me because I thought "Wouldn't it be fun to have some candid shots of the whole thing?" Apparently people aren't too keen on being ambush photographed on a Saturday at a friend's house. I don't know what's wrong with people.  

She took this one which I am using on the blog and Facebook page! 
                                                
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In an effort to appease the masses I have carefully chosen the photos here.


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I totally roped this friend into having her pic made. If you are an introvert like me you need those extroverty friends to call up and inform you that yes, you are, going to IKEA on opening day, or test driving a car, or going to a movie. You know that by "extroverty" I mean bossy, right?

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You wouldn't even know I'd been working so hard on my lettering this year because I didn't think this through at all and made this sign five minutes before people started to arrive.

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Check out this adorable welcome mat that my friend, The Food Maven sent me a few months ago! It makes me happy every day! Y'all!

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So now that that's all over I can get back to work and start planning the fall honey sale. Remember...



* Photos by Janelle Melliton

4 comments:

  1. How fun!!!! It all looks so good. I'm definitely a "light" honey eater.

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    1. We had a blast! I love the light honey in a Tulsi Rose Tea that I drink and the dark on things like fish or roasted veggies that can stand up to a strong flavor. Do you get your local honey at a farmers market or some place else?

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  2. That is some of the darkest honey I've ever seen! Could there be honeydew in it?

    I am really curious about how you did the beeswax food wrap, how you get it thin and flexible enough and yet it doesn't disintegrate. Is it a secret process?

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    Replies
    1. Our late summer and fall honey is always this dark. I don't think honeydew honey is something we get in this area. I've never heard any other beekeepers talk about it.

      I will probably do a post on making the wrap soon. Not a secret process at all! I think it helps to have some propolis mixed in with the beeswax. I don't think the average person would be able to replicate it very easily but a beekeeper certainly could!

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