Yes — we have honey! After a cold, slow spring and early summer in Seattle, the honey bee harvest is finally here. It has been such an unusual season that I genuinely was not sure we would get surplus honey this year. As it turned out, the bees were simply waiting for the right weather window and then packed it in fast.
First Seattle Honey Harvest: Two Batches in August
We took our first honey on August 1 and got a second harvest this past week. The result is enough honey to start selling at the Phinney Farmers Market on Friday evenings from 3 to 7pm. We are managing 25 hives this season, working about 2–3 days per week at peak production time. Some hives are significantly more productive than others, and production from any individual hive varies through the season.
Selling Honey by Zip Code and Flavor
We are selling most of our honey labeled by hive location — by zip code. For example, we have a nice batch from the 98103, 98119, and 98125 zip codes and sell those separately. We can only estimate the primary floral source based on what was in bloom at harvest time. I know blackberry honey is one of the components in our current honey, along with linden trees and clover.
Japanese knotweed honey will be next, along with a small yellow wildflower currently blooming around Seattle that I believe is a wild aster. Each group of hives produces a unique taste. In particular, honey is a bit like wine — each harvest carries its own individual character depending on the season and the specific mix of forage available to that set of hives.