Erik,

Great report! Glad to hear of the good luck pressing. We just made another batch of mead (mellomel, actually...with black cherry juice added) from the 15lbs or so of honey that came out of our second hive. The first batch we made from the wax rinsings last fall has been transferred now two times and is clarifying nicely. We ventured a taste during the last transfer and it was pretty good.

I'm almost finished with a prototype 'Kenya style' top bar hive that some folks might want to consider for this year's hive building adventures. I'll be soliciting requests for new hives this week from the various people who have expressed interest in joining/starting. Then, with luck, we'll build those hives the week of March 14 or 21.

Glory Bee's delivery date this year is April 15 for live bees. Orders need to be in by April 8.

I think the opacity of the honey is just crystalization. Mine does that too if it gets cool. Gentle heating makes it clear again...with patience. Some honeys seem to cloud more readily than others. I found this quick link that may offer some ideas:

http://scienceline.org/2007/04/ask-westly-crystallizedhoney/

I won't be in town on March 6, so will sadly miss the gathering at Annie's, but I'm sure we'll all bee together soon!

All the best,

David