Well, did you think that bottle was just going to package itself?

Photos above by Carla Malloy

I was at the warehouse operating my one-man-show-assembly-line filling honey bottles for the farmstand. Exasperated, bored and bothered by invisible stickiness and henpecking yellow jackets, Carla stopped by and compelled me to take a break. We took a few minutes to shoot some photos of how the honey gets packaged in this mysterious tin warehouse that sits just across the river in the beautiful Santa Rosa Road Valley.

 Photo above by Carla Malloy

The French family (Johnny French pictured above) has been managing the bee hives on the Pata Bros. Ranch for the last 50 years or so. This multi-generational small family business not only has a slew of honey bee experts, they also have a handful of dedicated 4-H leaders, and committed agricultural veterans.

Photo above by Carla Malloy

Since 9/11 new anti-terrorism legislation requires that each hive be meticulously tracked and recorded. The jars of honey above show the subtle variations in color which is determined by where and when the bees acquire the pollen and nectar. If there is an early spring or a late spring, if it's an avocado or lemon orchard, or our own favorite, wild sage flowers in the Jalama Valley, all those factor in to producing different tastes and colors of honey. (If you want to be a honey snob go for the darker stuff).

Photo above by Carla Malloy

Above is the workshop where they overhaul, patch and repair the various hives that get damaged by weather or even wildlife. Below is a hive that was destroyed by a nosey black bear. They put the bits and pieces that were left into a hot water vat to help salvage the wax. Carla, Grace and I then used the wax to make candles for our Christmas gifts. (Note the vintage bed frame repurposed as a strainer).

I then take the filled bottles back to my studio and use my letterpress machine to print the labels that I designed. I use a one hundred plus year old Kelsey letterpress machine to print each label by hand and then enlist the help of my children. 

Four year old Claire is specifically talented at unclipping the drying prints off of the clothes line and using her nimble little fingers to peel off that sticky back paper like nobody else can. A little cutting and pasting and they are ready for the farmstand.

Thank you Johnny for taking a few stings for us. I have my own hive now across the field so I can learn but it certainly couldn't supply enough honey for the farmstand. We couldn't do it without the Frenchs. Of course, the honey bees had a little something to do with it too, but that's another post.