Gabe and Ariel Sweet as Honey, Photo by Henry Stanley
On Wednesday day I met up with Henry, Ariel, Gabe and Anna to attempt to gather wild honey from a feral honeybee hive I had discovered in Oaks Bottom Park. I had already tried once, unsuccessfully, on my own to get the honey and ended up with about a half dozen stings, so this time I let the boys try their hand at it. We bee suited up. First, we tried to smoke the bees with one of my mugwort smudge sticks. This seemed to at least drive them deeper into the hive. Unfortunately, the comb was too deep, and the hole too small for Henry and Gabe’s man hands, and we failed again, but with only one sting between us. The allure of the honey is so strong we plan to go back again soon with better tools for the job. A longhandled metal serving spoon or some barbecue tongs might do the trick…
After that we went mushroom hunting out on Larch mountain. We found a decent amount of chanterelles and winter chanterelles, but most were on the soggy side. The real score was hedgehog mushrooms which were crisp and abundant. Here are some photos by Henry Stanley:
Mushroom Mafia
Emily and Ariel Rest Streamside
Emily Picks a Chanterelle
