I don't keep bees. I maintain a bee-friendly environment. Even before birds, bees are the largest group of visitors in my garden. (You mammals, I am talking to you mice and deer; war has been declared!) I provide water with easy perching places. I don't use herbicides in a pre-emptive manner and never as foliar sprays. I used a pesticide just once, on a cool day (It may have been less than 50 degrees that day. I hope all you bees stayed home that day, keeping your queen warm.). The apple blossoms had dropped. I was after the coddling moths who seem smitten by my Honeycrisp apple tree. (I did the climbing roses the same say to ward off the evil sawflies.)
Bees are kept in my neighborhood, a very short flight path from my raspberries, Seckl pear, strawberries, and apple. Yesterday, the beekeeper blessed me with a half pint of fresh honey, saying it had been a very good year.
Can honey have good years like wine? I'd like to know. Is there a "terroir" effect for honey? Maybe I am tasting the freshness of the honey before it has sat and evaporated to make it the overly, sickingly sweet sticky, fabricated mess you can sometimes accidentally buy in a retail setting. None the less, this honey was just the right amount of sweet, the right consistency on a spoon, without out any sediment or crystalization.
And, I swear I could taste just a hint of fruit and berries, and maybe...wild roses. It does not get any more local than this.
