# Honey Smorgashboard



## Coloneldad5 (Dec 6, 2011)

Well, I've been enjoying myself reading through many of your posts. I've learned a lot about honey that I never realized before. I've always enjoyed honey, especially on a hot slice of homemade whole wheat bread right out of the oven. However, honey has always just been honey for me and while I was aware of some differences, I hadn't realized just how many different types and flavors are out there. I guess I have a new mission in life, to experiment a few of the many flavors to be found. :nanner:

I am curious as to how many different flavors of honey you've tried?


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## alleyyooper (Apr 22, 2005)

Got to taste some maple flavored honey once from Northern Michigan.

 Al


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## mare (Aug 31, 2006)

the best honey i think i've had was the basswood honey


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## Paquebot (May 10, 2002)

If you ever get a chance to try choke cherry, that's also a super one and my personal favorite from around here.

Martin


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## bee (May 12, 2002)

Locust Honey!!!


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## tom j (Apr 3, 2009)

What ever MY girls give me .. if my girls make it thats the best honey .... for me any way


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## pheasantplucker (Feb 20, 2007)

I'm still a newbie at bees (3 years), but I never understood how people could know (or control) what type honey they were getting. I lift my honey once (late August). I get whatever they've been visiting since spring. That would be a mix of just about everything. When apple blossoms are coming on, they visit the apples, when I've got clover they go to the clover. It's a blend, and noticebly different each year (since I save some from each year, so I can compare flavors). How does, let's say, orange blossom honey come about? Unless you lived where for surrounding miles and miles with nothing but orange trees blossoming, and you put in clean frames before the run and removed them immediately after the run, I can't imagine how else this could come about. Is this how they do it? What about clover honey in more northern areas? How do you know bees aren't going to stuff besides clover? Do folks remove frames throughout the summer? Do they cap their honey so quickly? I checked in on my girls last summer and despite that they were filling frames with honey, it wasn't till about a week before I hoped to pull the boxes off that they had it capped.


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## alleyyooper (Apr 22, 2005)

You figured it out. When the orange blossom bloom honey supers are placed on the hives. It is what the bees tend to vistet for the most part so the honey gets that taste. the honey supers are pulled off just as the oranges stop blooming. Same goes for all the rest.
But it can never the way I see it be 100% of that nectar.
I also think the stuff in super markets does not have a true label. Just look at all the jars labeled clover honey. Wouldn't one think the color would be uniform?

We sell only Pure Michigan wild honey.It contains fruit tree blossoms, dandolion, assorted flowering shrubs, flowering trees, the different clovers, sumac and milk weed.

 Al


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## Paquebot (May 10, 2002)

alleyyooper said:


> I also think the stuff in super markets does not have a true label. Just look at all the jars labeled clover honey. Wouldn't one think the color would be uniform?


No, there are a number of clover varieties planted for honey production. Crimson, white, ladino, alsike, and sweet are the most common. Each have different nectars and peak blossoming times.

Martin


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## Sunmo (Dec 29, 2004)

One of my favorites is Japanese Knotweed honey. While knotweed is a real invasive weed that our county is trying to eradicate, it makes a real dark, strong flavored honey. It also blooms late in the fall.


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## Paquebot (May 10, 2002)

Another invasive one that's good is purple loosestrife that one of our local suppliers has. It's a dark honey but only problem is that it's not often available. Whenever he has it, I always grab a pint of it. 

Martin


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## indypartridge (Oct 26, 2004)

My primary honey crop is tulip poplar, a dark, rich and full-bodied honey. Naturally, it's my favorite honey.

I also like mint honey. Northern Indiana has huge mint fields and I know a number of beeks who have bees that work those fields.

A couple years ago, I received an expensive jar of Manuka honey from New Zealand. Nasty, awful tasting stuff. I only use it for treating cuts and burns.


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## lasergrl (Nov 24, 2007)

Goldenrod is very good.


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## deaconjim (Oct 31, 2005)

My favorites are locust, sourwood, tupelo, and poplar.


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