An Amish Flower Farm by Mindy Steele

Author:Mindy Steele [Steele, Mindy]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Hallmark Publishing
Published: 2021-05-27T16:00:00+00:00

Just the thought of spending more time with Adam Hostetler made Belinda’s stomach twist. How dare he make her think he still had a girlfriend? Tabitha was right, it was very cruel. Did he think her some desperate maedel who might bat lashes his way if she knew he was available? She growled inwardly. How dare he commit to start harvesting and then not show up? If he wasn’t hurting, heartbroken and embarrassed, she would have addressed his failures at keeping his word.

After loading one full super into the wagon, she rode silently beside him on the buggy seat. It was one thing to know you were viewed simply as the help, but to be lied to was another thing entirely. She gnawed the inside of her cheek as they pulled up to the honey house.

The honey house wasn’t a house, really, but a small barn with metal sides. Belinda jumped easily from the wagon seat, excited to finally see inside. Just because Adam was a jerk didn’t mean she had to hate the whole experience.

“Let me show you the extractor first.” He lifted a super from the back of the wagon and aimed for the door. Belinda shadowed his steps.

The honey house was cooler than the warm June heat outside, thanks to a thick slab of concrete underfoot. A short table sat in the center of the room with a large metal can on top. The crank on its side indicated he had made his own extractor instead of purchasing one like most did. A spigot, much like her grandfather’s, sprouted out near the bottom. Next to the metal container was a large square one with a wooden board across the top, also with a spigot near the bottom. Why did he need two, she pondered. Belinda had to admit Adam’s setup was nothing like she was accustomed to.

Adam lifted the first frame and sat it upright on the wooden strip of the square container. One lone bee that hadn’t been shooed off by smoke flew up and searched her surroundings.

“Can you grab one of those clean buckets?” He pointed to a far corner where a stack of buckets, smelling strongly of bleach, sat upside down on a bench. She fetched one for him.

“It looks like Dawdi’s, but...” she mumbled. Adam reached under the table and pulled out a strainer, and secured it between both spigots just above the clean bucket.

“This catches and strains the honey at the same time. Saves time. Instead of cranking all day and having to separate out the wax, I do this.” He reached under the table again and pulled out a long knife-like object that resembled a thin spatula. “This is an uncapping knife. Here, let me show you how it works. It makes it easier to scrape the beeswax caps off. Then we can spin the frames. Mica says your dawdi didn’t do that.”

“Nee. It is very clever.”

Adam began demonstrating the process. He began by slowly slicing away the beeswax from the honeycomb and letting it fall into the stainless square container he referred to as “the box.

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