#22. Winter at the Beach

Winter is here - finally.  The water in the rain barrel now sports a 2-inch-thick block of crystal ice.  There have been a few days of blustery - even howling - winds.  Nothing like winters past so far, though, where the incessant winds and single-digit temps made one want to put a gun to one's head and pull the trigger - just to stop the shrieking winds.

For me, it's the ideal time to pick oysters.  I have a favorite spot, and if I go at low tide, especially after a windy day, I'm likely to find plenty of fat, winter oysters right along the tide line.  I brought 50 of the salty gems to a New Year's Eve party at my friends' Wendy and Bert, and they were very well received.  Which was nice, since it took me forever, plus a couple of minor stab wounds, to open them.  To accompany the oysters, I developed an Asian-inspired mignonette with fresh ginger, green onion, shallots, a little hot sauce, Ponzu sauce, mirin, and rice wine vinegar.  Oh, yes, and a few good turns of fresh-ground pink salt and cracked mixed pepper (pink, white, black).

Tiki enjoying End-of-the-World beach

Mussels bubbling away

Today was glorious.  Cold, but clear blue skies and just a slight breeze.  I took the three dogs for a long walk on their favorite beach - the one we call End-of-the-World, and was repaid for my efforts by finding a lobster buoy, torn from its pot and resting on the rocky beach, and it was encrusted with mussels.  I tore off a few handfuls and brought them home.  After a good scrubbing and refreshing them in seawater, into the pan they went, with some white wine, garlic, parsley, and butter.  Within minutes, from beach to bowl, I had a real treat.

Of course, now that winter is truly here, I'm worried about the bees.  We've had such mild weather that they've been out and about, doing a lot of flying around.  On New Year's Day, which I think was our last warm day, I put jars of heavy sugar syrup, mixed with some honey, on each hive.  They sucked them dry.  This, after lifting the back ends of each hive to see how heavy, i.e. how much food, they still have.  No surprise, Team Red was the heaviest.  Not coincidentally, they are the ones who have been flying the least, and so I suppose they've been conserving their stores. Both other hives felt pretty light to me.  And the big danger sign is supposed to be how close to the top of the hive the bees are clustering.  They travel upwards as they move through their food source during the winter.  Last time I went into the hives I had made sure that the bee clusters were at the bottom of the hives, and all the food was above them.  Bad news:  the bees are at the top of all three hives.

I'm not alone in my concern.  The emails have been flying on our bee class' Yahoo group.  Many new students are worried about the same thing.  And the emergency food of choice during the winter is rolled fondant icing.  Yes, the same stuff that often coats wedding cakes.  I tried making some the other day, but I didn't like the way it turned out, so I've ordered some on line.  It should be here in a day or two.  I'll wait for a relatively mild day, then open the hives and place a sheet of fondant on top of the hive bars and push it down a bit between the frames.  It will be easily accessible to the bees, and I hope it will do the trick.  It will be at least 2 months - and probably longer - before there is anything for them to forage.  Two months sounds like an eternity to me.