Besides the four new hives at StellaLou, we have one strong hive and its split in Elkins Park. We were able to harvest 30 pounds of honey from the big hive on Wednesday (May 22, 2013). Leaving the bulk of the honey with J to strain, I scraped the bottom of the extractor so that I could take about 8 ounces to StellaLou Farm. I noticed the roses blooming in Elkins Park and thought to make a trial jar of rose petal infused honey. However, as I hit the turnpike to go back to StellaLou, I realized I had forgotten to pick the blooms. Disappointing.
One of the first things we (Indie and I) do when we get to the farm is to take a walk. As I came around the underground house, I spotted a lovely pink rose. There is a sense of risk with the enormous greenhouse, noticeably, shifting down slope in its deterioration; but I thought I could nab a few roses to proceed with my experiment. It was nice to know that these roses are 100% organically grown.
I brought the bowl of roses into the house and I found a most interesting surprise. I’ve not, yet, been able to identify the spider and I think this is some kind of sweat bee. Be sure to click on the image to get a closeup view!
I had just the right amount of petals.
I’ll give this a taste and strain it in a couple of weeks. I have a feeling I might need to grow more roses.
