Queenstown Lakes Honey!!! Made right here locally.

With such beautiful weather we had no choice but visit the hard workers who make all of this possible.... the local bees! Our local supplier, Keith, took us up to some of his hives here in Queenstown to show off his beautiful workers and the stunning Queens laying inside!

We suited up.. though his bees are of such a timid nature we didn't really need to! As well as a nice cold smoke to stop the 'intruder alert' pheromones which made them very accepting of us being there and poking around. 

A few things which really stood out;

• Varroa Mite. These little critters are a massive pain. I never knew how common and abrupt they were- and how hard bee keepers have to work to keeping them from destroying the hive. They are at their worst when they latch themselves onto the larvae, creating deformed bees. There are methods to kill them, both organic and otherwise. It's so important this is kept under control!
  Here is a great wee video to give you an idea on these parasites

             https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6Y2t81Y8I2Q

• The dynamics of the hive, we will go into this one as well in further detail in another post but the infrastructure, politics and dynamics of a beehive is extraordinary! 

• Our local honey... it's soooooooooooooo good! This particular honey is so so raw and fresh, harvested only weeks before you buy it! It isn't heated or creamed, just strained directly into the pot. You can't get fresher than that!!
  You can purchase on here or in-store today.