Having a beehive in my garden got me thinking about what I could do with the honey and, having experimented a bit with making my own wine, I had been contemplating making honey mead. On a recent trip to Adelaide I was fortunate enough to visit the McLaren Vale wine region and try some excellent honey mead from Maxwell Wines, and was inspired to give it a go. Mead is made by fermenting honey and is believed to be the oldest fermented beverage known to humans. The ancient Greeks knew it as … [Read more...]
Lemon, Honey & Ginger Syrup
Lemon, Honey & Ginger Syrup is perfect for soothing those winter sore throats and giving a boost to your immunity. It is quick and easy to make and a perfect gift for someone who's not feeling well. Just add a couple of spoonfuls to a cup of hot water. You will need: a biggish piece of fresh ginger (about 100g) 1 cup honey 1 cup fresh lemon juice (6 medium lemons) Slice the ginger thinly. Boil ginger with 1 cup water in a small heavy-based saucepan for about 5 minutes, stirring … [Read more...]
“Home-made” Honey
In earlier posts, I have talked about planting flowers to attract bees to the garden, and my decision last spring to rent a beehive to make sure I was getting lots of good pollination for my increasing numbers of fruits and vegetables. Over the summer I enjoyed watching the hard work of my bees (and the beekeeper) in my garden. I really started to appreciate the amazing process of making honey and the wonderful symbiotic relationship that humans have with bees when I read Manuka: the … [Read more...]
The Manuka Honey Story
Since I got a beehive in my garden I have become fascinated with bees and have been reading up more about them. "Manuka, the biography of an extraordinary Honey" is well worth a read. Manuka honey is a New Zealand 'rags to riches' success story and this book is written by a New Zealand beekeeper who has observed the story unfold; it was published in 2014 by Exisle Publishing, an independent NZ publishing house. Manuka is the native NZ tea tree and the scrubby plant once covered huge areas … [Read more...]