Homemade Honey From My Homies

My longtime friends have a small garden and a big beehive in Mendham New Jersey, near horse farms. They own over 10,000 bees which produces small batches of honey. Every year, at the harvest party, guests learn fun facts about bees like a queen bee can lay up to 2500 eggs a day and can live up to 5 years while the female worker bee only lives about 6 weeks. 

The highlight of the evening begins when the sun sets and the honeycombs come out. That’s when we get to participate.  First, the wax is scraped into vats to later become candles and the comb frames are put into a spinning machine. Guests take turns churning the crank, to spin and extract the honey that falls into the barrel.  The golden syrup is then filtered before the first ceremonial bottle is poured. It is tradition for everyone to give a toast then take a shot of Honey Jack in honor of the family’s late patriarch. Then, with much fanfare, that initial bottle of Honey is bestowed upon the guest of honor.  

I enjoyed setting up the production line with labels, bottles, seals and caps.  Quickly, I learned there was a rhythm to it. If the spigot to the honey vat was open too fast, the pourer would make a sticky mess of it.  

Spills were contained but it slowed the process down.  There were two cases of bottles to fill and guests soon got over the novelty. Happily, I took the helm, eager to streamline the bottling as if it were a conveyor belt. One by one, labeled bottles were filled, sealed and closed. 

The work was well worth it because I got to take home 6 bottles.  And, whenever I squeeze that Turko Honey into my cup of tea or on my Greek yogurt, I am reminded of my good friends and grateful that they shared their sweet bounty!