Bee fine
We woke to a beautiful fine morning, our friends had arrived late last night so we enjoyed a light breakfast together in the garden, before all heading off to the market. I’d wanted to get some asparagus for dinner, as it’s currently in season. I had decided to get some white and green, but I also saw this very delicate variety, I just need to find out how best to cook it. I’m thinking maybe to steam it.
We decided to have lunch at the café near the market, before heading over to Meurville to do some champagne tasting. Fifteen champagne houses around Bar-sur-Aube were opening their doors for two days, laying on tastings, walks, and exhibitions. We were heading for Gaston Cheq, as it was a producer we had tried at the champagne festival last year, and one I wanted to revisit. In 1911 Gaston Cheq lead the revolt that brought the champagne AOC back to the Aube, as previously when the rules for producing champagne were written the southern area of the champagne region had been left out.
We got to try four of their wines, brut, rosé, blanc de blanc and their milleseme. A very pleasant tasting.
As part of the open door event, they were taking small groups of people to visit their ‘Les ruchers’, the apiary or beehives. Before we knew it, we were dressed in our beekeeping regalia and on our way to the hives.
The beekeeper gave us a short safety briefing – basically do not stand in front of the hive as this is where the bees enter and exit from. He explained he would smoke them a bit to calm them, but not to make sudden movements near them. I was certainly wondering what we had got ourselves into at this point, I’m really not great with ‘buzzy things’.
However, as he started to open up the hives and talk us through how they lived, how they keep the hive at 37°c, the life cycle and hierarchy, it all became really interesting and I wasn’t affected by the bees buzzing around our heads, I actually felt quite safe in my suit.
They didn’t have any honey in the hive as yet, they were still building up their colony and readying themselves for a summer full of flowers and nectar. Fascinating little creatures.
