More rain and now we have had twice the amount of rain as in a typical year. What does all this rain mean? Nothing has been planted this spring in our field of mud. The spring flowers look lush and marvelous, but the steady rain washes out the nectar in the flowers. The flowers need two days without rain in order to produce nectar for the bees to gather. So what do bees do when they have to stay inside the hive? Sex. The bees are madly reproducing, but have no honey yet to show for all their efforts. One hive was angry, probably because it had been pestered by a racoon (remember the bees attacking Winnie the Pooh?), so we replaced the queen. Even so, it may take the whole season for that hive to simmer down. Unfortunately, some of our visitors have experienced first-hand those angry and frustrated bees!

So I’m still eating our local honey from last year, which is still available at Kitchen Conservatory. Here is a lovely sauce for roasted vegetables:

Honey-Balsamic Sauce

• 6 tablespoons butter
• 5 tablespoons balsamic vinegar
• 2 tablespoons honey
• 2 tablespoons capers
• 1/3 cup golden raisins
• salt and pepper

Melt the butter in a sauce pan and add the vinegar and honey and bring to a boil and cook for a minute to reduce slightly. Add the capers and raisins and season with salt and pepper. Toss on roasted vegetables, such as asparagus or cauliflower.