May 2, 2017 – There’s a new buzz at Bernardus Lodge and it has nothing to do with happy hour or their latest 5-star review on Trip Advisor. Hundreds of thousands of honey bees have been moved into the on-site garden of chef Cal Stamenov, where they are happily collecting nectar and making honey that will go into new menu items, spa treatments and, yes, even cocktails—one of them hilariously named the EpiPen!
The new apiary program called “Buzzed at Bernardus” is a longtime dream come true for the lodge and for its star chef, who has kept bee hives at his own home for the past ten years.
“Right now is perfect timing, during the drought the bees were having a hard time,” says chef Cal. “We have more than one hundred fruit trees—citrus, plums, apricots—that need to be pollinated.” The lodge is in the midst of adding 50 fig trees in keeping with the Mediterranean look of its 28-acre grounds.
Built to mimic the luxurious lodge, the three double-tiered bee hives sport copper roofs and are painted the same earthy hues as the bungalows. Each hive is home to about 80,000 honey bees, for a total of 240,000 in the entire colony. They are placed in a section of the chef’s garden blooming with French and Spanish lavender, Echium, and mounds of catnip.
“Everything we do out here is about health, wellness and awareness,” he says, adding that the bees will be left alone through the summer for guests to observe and enjoy. In fall, when the first honey is expected to be ready, chef Cal will don his full bee suit and tape up the sleeves and pants cuffs.
“To harvest, the bees get smoked out of their hives. They eat some honey and then flee, but some of those left behind can get pretty aggressive,” he explains. Teenaged beekeeper Jake Reisdorf—owner of Carmel Honey Company—has been hired to help care for the Bernardus bees. He met chef Cal at the annual Craftsman Exchange held at the lodge last October and the two found they had a lot to talk about.
“After hundreds of years of beekeeping, people are still experimenting with what works best,” the chef says. Bees need to be fed in the winter and then checked up on throughout the summer to make sure the hives aren’t growing too fast, which might cause them to swarm.
In the kitchen, chef Cal is using Jake’s Carmel Valley honey until the lodge’s hives start producing. He likes to make a Moroccan marinade with honey and spices to use as a glaze on grilled meats, like lamb or squab.
“Honey is sweeter than sugar and it’s easy to work with, but it has a very dominating flavor. You always have to figure out how to combine it so that it doesn’t overpower the other ingredients,” he says, adding that his lime, honey and cilantro sorbet is currently served as a delightful interlude between courses at Lucia restaurant.
Bartenders are also getting in on the apiary program with three delicious new honey-sweetened Colony Cocktails set to launch in the upcoming weeks. The EpiPen, mentioned earlier, is sure to cure whatever ails you. It features Abomination Whiskey from artisanal distiller Lost Spirits mixed with honey, lemon, Angostura bitters and a splash of soda water, served on the rocks.
The Queen Bee cocktail pairs Darjeeling gin, lemon, honey and a dash of honeycomb bitters.
The most outstanding combination, however, is the Smokey Stinger which uses Vago Espadin mezcal and honey syrup. This pairing of smokey and sweet, with a hint of fresh lemon and a dash of Angostura bitters is a real winner. (see recipe below)
Bernardus Lodge also plans to add honey-based treatments at its spa in the next few months. The Honeybee & Sunshine Massage, for example, will include a wild honey face mask that takes advantage of the anti-microbial and anti-allergenic properties of this miracle gift from the bees courtesy of Mother Nature.
And connecting guests with the spectacular natural world of Carmel Valley is what Bernardus Lodge aims to do.
Smokey Stinger Cocktail
2 oz. Vago Espadín Mezcal
1 oz. honey syrup
Fresh Lemon
Angostura bitters
Garnish with an edible flower
About the author
Deborah Luhrman is publisher and editor of Edible Monterey Bay. A lifelong journalist, she has reported from around the globe, but now prefers covering our flourishing local food scene and growing her own vegetables in the Santa Cruz Mountains.
