“As you can imagine, springtime in the north Okanagan is also a marvellous time and place for honey bees. While the beginning of the season is far colder than in most of New Zealand, once things warm up the weather is far more stable, and there is such a profusion of native wild-flowers that nectar and pollen foragers have an almost bewildering (at least to humans) array of choices.
And the honey, when the bees collect it in mid-summer, is different to anything I’ve tasted anywhere else in the world. It’s a combination of both yellow and white sweet clover (Melilotus officinalis and M. albus), which loves nothing better than to grow on roadsides seemingly devoid of any soil whatsoever; the native snowberry (Symphoricarpos albus); and alfalfa/lucerne, although this last source very much depends on how quickly farmers are able to cut it for hay.”