By Margaret Sloan, Sunset production coordinator

Santa Clara Valley is indeed the Garden of Heart’s Delight, particularly if you are a bee, or a beekeeper who loves honey.

Our bees have been socking away honey like crazy. Last week we pulled 8 bars of honey from Califia (our top bar hive). That amounted to 28.5 pounds processed honey. And today we took nearly a full super (7 frames) from Veronica. (Dont' worry, we left plenty in the hive for the bees to eat should there be a sudden summer dearth). Upon tasting each new harvest I pronounce it the best honey yet. Every harvest tastes different. Every harvest is delicious.

We’ve been taking honey from them all summer and I think we'll be able to take some more. Even though it's the beginning of September, there are plenty of flowers blooming to keep the girls busy. They really love the mints, basils, and salvias that are blooming all over town.

The English ivy that grows wild in every untended spot is budded up and ready to bloom. We’ve been told it doesn't make good honey—it crystallizes too fast—but the bees really love the flowers. Asters have yet to begin. Veronica has an empty super, and we’ve put more bars into Califia. We’re ready for the fall harvest.

A full frame of beautifully capped honey.