don't worry, bee happy

one of the last things i expected to do when i came to greece was this.....

......get dressed in a beekeeper's suit!

this adorable couple of english expats, john phipps - a beekeeper - and his wife, val, invited deb and me down to their place 

a glorious little cottage overlooking a garden filled with sage and lavender and the aegean in the distance

val served us fresh welsh cakes hot off the griddle

we were in search of these......

the phipps' friend socrates lit the smoker by burning a piece of burlap

while deb suited up, too, and tried to figure out how to operate her camera underneath the shroud

socrates starts to smoke the hive

which makes the bees swarm, allowing an opportunity for john to show us the comb (bare hands and all!)

more mesmerized than wary, i watch as john lifts out one of the trays

with deb filming the whole process

john and socrates pointed out the queen and i tried to capture her in this shot (she's in there somewhere, i promise!)

john inserted a piece of white paper at the bottom of the hive to check for the varroa mite, a parasitic insect which can wreak havoc in a bee colony (still can't believe these guys are doing this bare-handed!)

i took the opportunity to take a shadowy self portrait in my strange mufti

even though he was wearing pants, john was stung through his clothing - you can see the tiny black stinger still in his leg

john inspects the white paper for the varroa mite while deb and val look on

and to think that all this effort leads to a sweet conclusion....

not surprisingly, the entrance to the phipps' cottage is a bee light, imported from their native england

 

thanks val, john and socrates for letting us experience the fascinating world of beekeeping and allowing us a glimpse into the secret lives of bees
(hey, i couldn't resist!!)

xo♡a   

Greek Welsh Cakes

Recipe courtesy of Val Phipps
Stoupa, Greece

Ingredients:

225 g. self-raising flour
110 g. butter

pinch of salt

1 teaspoon mixed spice

zest of 1/4 lemon

110 g. sugar (fine and soft brown mixed)

110 g. currants/sultanas

1 beaten egg

Method:

Rub fat into flour. 

Add sugar, fruit, mixed spice, salt and lemon zest.

Mix in beaten egg. 

Roll out 1/4 inch thick.

Cut into rounds.

Bake on medium heated griddle (or frying pan) until just cooked - slightly soft in the middle. 

Dust with fine sugar.

EAT AT ONCE!!

(Should you batch-cook, make double quantity, allow to cool and freeze. Once thawed, warm, wrapped in foil in oven.