Hive Mind Honey @ Molly Moon’s

Well, we’re just tickled beyond pickled.

Have we mentioned that we’re beekeepers? Yes, beekeepers, right here in Wallingford. We’ve got two hives in our back yard, which we’ve labeled “Hive Mind Apiaries”. And funny thing is, we’re not alone. We know that Emily down by the Transfer Station has some hives of her own, and we suspect there are some more sprinkled throughout the ‘hood.

First, we’ll answer the questions we’re always asked:

• Yes, it’s legal to have up to four hives in the city.
• Yes, we get stung and yes, it hurts, every time.
• No, our neighbors don’t mind. To the extent that they notice, it’s just that their vegetable gardens are more productive than they would be otherwise. Honey bees don’t bother humans much, they’re just interested in flowers, and they generally travel miles to find them. Those insects that harass you at picnics are yellow jackets, a type of wasp, not bees.
• We generally harvest around 10 – 15 gallons of honey each year from my two hives.

This last question leads to the point of this post: what do we do with all that honey? Give it away, mostly. For all our efforts, even at $40 – $50 / gallon, it wouldn’t be worth it to sell.

Who do we give it to? Friends and neighbors.

Aaaaaaaaand…local restaurants. See, another one one our passions is the concept of locavorism: eating locally produced foods. It’s a beautiful thing on many levels: it reduces the carbon footprint of food production by eliminating transportation costs, encourages consumption of fresher foods, encourages regional differentiation in flavors, and fosters accountability between producer and consumer.

So who is serving our honey right now? Molly Moon’s Ice Cream, that’s who!

Yes, stop in at Molly Moon’s ice cream for the next several weeks and order the Honey Lavender ice cream, and you’ll be enjoying Wallingford honey. It really does have a unique flavor, and if you have flowers in your garden, and you live in the greater Wallingford area (2 – 3 mile radius), it’s very likely that nectar and pollen from your flowers are in that honey!

Order a cone, and enjoy the fruit of your garden! We did, and oh m’Lordy, soooo good.

Also, if you’re interested in beekeeping, visit the Hive Mind Honey blog. And watch these pages mid-summer, we’re always happy to show give tours of the hive, and we’ll be working with the Wallingford Walks organizers to set a date.