How are ya, honey?

It’s honey harvesting season again—as the summer garden blooms are done and the worker bees are ready to hibernate.

It’s fascinating to watch the gathering process, with hot knives to cut the comb from the frames and gorgeous golden honey sticking everything together. We recently got a big hunk of honeycomb from our beekeeping neighbors.

While we chewed on some of the sweet wax, I’d much rather melt down the comb and allow the honey and wax to separate. My neighbor advised using a double boiler to avoid scalding the honey. Then we’ll have plenty to put in our tea to sooth autumn allergies and drizzle onto toast.

The beeswax will be useful for making lip balm for the winter and rubbing on wood furniture to help protect it. If you don’t have such generous neighbors, head over to Sacramento Beekeeping Supplies at 2110 X Street. You can’t miss the huge bees painted on the outside. It has scads of local honeys, beeswax candles and royal jelly to treat you like a queen.