All about the bees

Hi Folks. Last week I harvested another box of honey. Much less eventful than the first. I can not tell you how delightful it is to herd bees that don't want to kill you. Queen Malina is a sweetie. No one got hurt. Bloody amazing.


Can you believe I have a bucket of this stuff in the shed. Indeed.

When I harvest honey I use the "crush and drain"method. This leaves a mushy mass of crushed wax with a bit of honey in it. With the overconfidence of one who has made 3 batches of honey plum saba without failure, it was time to EXPERIMENT. I added some water to the crushed comb and heated it up until the wax melted. Using a big slotted spoon I scooped it off the top leaving the honey dissolved in the water. And what is the base ingredient of saba...honey water!


The wax I can use later.

But, back to the saba. last week I was in Condobolin which meant I got to visit my secret favourite patch of wild peaches and bloody hell they are beautiful this year. One tree in particular was full of huge peaches as big as grannysmiths. Well. We got right into those. Of course, they had to wait a few days in a box for me to be able to do something with them, which gave the fruit flies a bit of time to hatch but mostly they are OK.

And the week before I was coming back through Bungendore and Robin gave me a bag of plums that were on their last legs.......

And Sue from next door got me some fresh organic apples from Pialigo........

And anyhoo, now there is a batch of honey plum peach apple saba fermenting away.


And while we are on the subject, I managed to rack honey and plum saba number 3 and serendipitously, there was some left over, and well we got stuck strait into that as well.


This batch used the gorgeous dark splendour like plums from out the front. Isn't it an amazing colour. And it tastes pretty good too. Believe me. I know. *hick*

In other news, Mr & Mrs BVVF came and picked up their widdle ducks and some for Em too - hope they are all settlin' in ok! So I have three left - two girls and a boy. I have to decide whether to keep any of the girls......tricky. Better have another glass of saba and think about it.

tally ho!
Giddy up!

crap friends

So like, I really need some more champagne bottles but my besties are letting me down. I have a back log of saba that needs bottlin' and a back log of wild fruit that needs startin' and only 6 bottles. I am half way through a sparkling white shiraz because I need the bottle.......

Carolyn who can usually be depended upon in desperate times of need such as these has gone away for the weekend. I rummaged through her wheelie bin - NOTHING - beer bottles, wine bottles, no champagne.


Come ON ladies!

Lacuna Sabbath

Hey folks. Not a lot to report. Widdle Ducks are pretty big now. Esmond has been reintroduced into the fold without incident.



Chu Chu has a new favourite cat spot.

The couch is threatening to take over the whole garden.

That is all.

it just gets better

heehee. we are discovering roof leaks we never knew we had!

Honey Truck Found

Honey Truck has been found. She has been on a bit of an adventure and has obviously suffered at the hands of her captors. She is all dinged in at the front and the back and the side. Sore nose, sore bum and a sore left shoulder.

Anyhoo. She may be a write off. Wont know until the insurance doods have had a look at her.


*sob*

Poor honey truck. She didn't deserve that.




In other news, it has been raining steadily all day. Tanks are overflowing. Sue from next door reckons there was 2 inches in the rain gauge. That seems like crazy talk but it could just be true.

What bliss. How parched we all are and how soothing is this rain. Queen Malina and the girls are safely ensconced in their hive. And it is GREAT weather for ducks. Speaking of ducks, Mr BVVF and EM, if you are out there, you may come and take your pick of the litter so to speak....the widdle babies are almost feathered out and are starting to get their grown up voices.




What a lovely radar image. Duckie and Mr BVVF and Em all getting rained on.

Bee Pee - tasting Notes

Father in Law was so inspired he wrote some tasting notes for the Bee Pee aka Honey and Plum Saba.

Bee Pee

A 2010 red by the name of Bee Pee
Was a well balanced wine
Nicely presented, a professional job
All agreed it tasted fine

Has great colour and very nice legs
Subtle aromas emerge from the glass
Light structure but full-bodied fruit
This wine is definitely first class

A revelation on the palate
With a personality real cute
Plum coloured with a crimson glint
It really tastes quite beaut

A taste of honey floats in the air
And massages the nose
Subtle flavours everywhere
And just a hint of rose

The plums came from a neighbour’s tree T
he honey from the hive
This wine is not a Vienna Waltz
More Rock ‘n Roll or Jive

Don’t tell your friends about this drop
Just keep it to yourself
‘Cause if the public discovers it
It will vanish from the shelf

Bee Wee Three

So like, there has been quite a bit of saba drinking happening. It is a happening thing.

Here is the latest batch, with the splendour plums, after one week of wild fermentation. This lot has been safely strained and bundled up into a demijohn for further fermentation. I kept the plums and am thinking of making a cake with them tomorrow. yum yum double yum. This stuff is good.

Father in law has christened it "bee wee". The general Ukrainian consensus is that it is good stuff. And that is high praise coming from a bunch of vodka brewing Ukrainians.