On Aug 11 2017 we ventured out in to the bee yard to begin our apiary’s 5th honey harvest!

The last year has been difficult for our girls. The fall was unusually wet, the winter unusually frozen, and the spring unusually cold and long. All of our crops and native plants were slow to set flowers. Our bees struggled to survive the cold wet dearth and we lost a larger than normal number of hives by the time the season changed to summer. In spite of this, we are excited to report that we have had a wonderfully successful harvest with lots of honey for us and the bees!

The honey flavour this year, as with all years, is uniquely different from all harvests that precede it. Our neighbourhood made a radical effort to eradicate Himalayan blackberry this year which in years past has been a predominant food source for our bees. A the same time, we worked hard to diversify the bee food flowers in our garden and have added a number of nectar generous plants for the bees to enjoy. A different nectar and pollen harvest for the bees translates in to a different honey experience for us. I won’t describe our impression of the flavour as we are interested to hear what you notice about it.

We are currently bottling up the 2017 harvest and will have it ready for sale through the farm, the veterinary clinic and Southlands Nursery in the next week. We still have some jars from our impressive 2016 harvest left over so we encourage you to pick up a jar of each to savour the differences in their flavours.

Photos from the harvest this year will be added soon! We hope you will enjoy the 2017 honey harvest with us.