A Visit to Red Bee Apiary

Today Garson and I went to a honey tasting at Red Bee in Weston.  When we arrived we were both really in love with her sweet house, the large oak table on the back porch surrounded by comfy chairs and all kinds of bee stuff.  A small group of women sat chatting near a little fire pit.  She had a little back yard and off to one side up on the hill were the hives.  She also had chickens, gardens with sunflowers, butter fly bushes, golden rod and great bee signs.  We were greeted by a friendly chocolate lab and a passionate beekeeper.  Marina Marchese, the owner, did a great presentation to about 20 captivated  honey enthusiasts. Her story started with some entertaining stories of the beekeeper next door and her introduction to hives and honey. Her interest has turned into her passion and has grown over the last 10 years.  We now know that the "girls" do all the work. Males are primarily present for reproduction and sent out of the hive in the fall where they perish.  We learned about how bee keepers move the hives around depending on what may be in bloom.  Honey is produced for the bees to live off of.  Marina knows how much honey the hive needs over the winter to survive, and the rest she takes out and sells.  Bees travel up to 4 miles from the hive to collect nectar.  The flavor in each bit of honey varies depending on what combination of nectors have been collected.  No two batches are the same. She fell in love with bees and left a career as a graphic designer in New York and now travels and does informational sessions as well as honey tastings all over the country.  We tasted 7 different types of honeys combined with flaxette bread from Fairfield Bread Company, excellent crackers, goat and brie cheeses.  We enjoyed the sweet Gallberry honey that is very much like the rare Tupulo honey.  This unusual honey is produced in the swamps of Georgia where they put the hives out on boats and sends them into the swamps while the Tupulo trees are in bloom.  We tasted alfalfa, goldenrod, blueberry blossom, tulip popular, buckwheat and farmhouse honey comb.  Each honey had a different flavor with some interesting and unexpected subtleties.  While we tasted these treat - the honey bee "girls" flew in and out of the area - tasting our honey.  They are so sweet to watch.  They fly in slow and don't come in contact with  people - they just are looking to taste the honey.  Periodically we got bombarded by the yellow jacks and wasps but they were easy to spot base on their aggressive flying patterns.  We talked about the incredible nutritional value of honey, bee pollen and royal jelly.  We had an absolutely delightful time and we would really consider having our own hives.  Honey bees are such a pure representation of what nature has to offer. If you are interested in learning more about Red Bee go to Marina's website: www.redbee.com.  It is a beautiful site.  It is so inspiring to see someone living their passion.