# We got PURPLE HONEY!



## jynxt

I couldn't believe it and every few minutes I catch myself going into the kitchen to double check.... but yup, it's PURPLE!










Sorry the picture comes out so giant.... I'm a confessed techno dummy. But I got PURPLE HONEY!!! :dance: 









ahhh ha, that one is smaller, but now it's almost too small..... hmmmm

Isn't it just too strange?? We have no real idea just exactly how it got to be purple.... but we are officially on overload as to the many theories about it. The kids are getting a little desperate to figure out just exactly what kind of honey this is. Personally I am enjoying looking at it, but it tastes awesome too... it's my favorite honey ever as far as taste goes and the extra uniqueness of it only adds to it.

Just thought I would share with y'all.


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## ace admirer

HMMM, might they be getting colored sugar water from humming bird feeders? but then it would be red?... anyway years ago a (more like 40) i read where honey had a green tint from green sugar water..the fellow could not sell it.


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## Guest

A while back I read about a farmer getting colored honey. Turned out the bees were eating paint.


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## Iddee

I just spent an hour or two with our head NC bee inspector. He says that your purple honey is a known, but not understood, phenomenon of the area of NC that you live in. There have been a few theories as to what it comes from, but none have been proven to date. It is, tho, a natural occurring honey that is reportedly made no where else in the world other than the area you live in.
Savor it, it is a "one of a kind".


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## jynxt

Wow, I hadn't gotten around to replying to this thread yet but thanx a heap Iddee!!!! You're one of a kind too!!!

I actually had emailed one of the state fellas about the honey and he replied that there were 3 fairly common theories about the purple honey. He had indicated that the leading theory was put forth by a Dr. at NCSU who believed that the honey was purple because of a mineral in the soil that reacted with the sourwood and made the honey turn purple. I'm on my way out the door right now but I'll gladly copy and paste the email later on or tomorrow sometime. The kids want to have the honey analyzed.... I guess I will have to look into how to get that done for them. I do know for a fact that the honey is the most delicious stuff I've ever had anywhere so I guess if this is what the kids' bees are going to give us they are more than welcome to have a dozen hives next year!!!


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## Guest

I did some googling and found this (near the bottom of the page):

_In the Carolinas during hot, dry summers when nectar is scarce, bees will
sometimese get into huckleberries, elderberries, wild grapes, or other
fruit, and make the famed "blue honey" or "purple honey." Not common,
but very fine._

http://www.ibiblio.org/pub/academic...ekeeping/sci.agriculture.beekeeping/Jul97.txt


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## turtlehead

Keep some for yourself, and sell some on "teh ebays" and retire a wealthy apiculturalist


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## Cashs Cowgirl

That is so awesome! Would you be willing to sell or trade a pint or two for some homemade jam/jelly!? PM me and let me know. We love honey here, but hubby has nixed my idea of any hives on our place mainly due to neighbors being so close and the risk of them bothering the bees. 

Hopefully one day I'll be able to get some. For now I get honey from our local beeman. It's good, but he sells it locally and it goes fast!


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## jynxt

HAHAHA "the ebays"!! I'm still waiting for the kids to decide just what they want to do with their awesome purple honey ( and trying not to eat it all while I wait). Since the beehives are theirs so is the honey I suppose *;-P* They asked me this morning to email back to the state bee inspector fella and see what it takes to get honey analyzed so I did and am waiting to hear back from him. btw ladycat, that is one of the theories on the purple honey.

Yesterday I said I would post the email I had gotten from him so here ya go:



> There are several theories about the "blue " or purple honey of north Carolina. It doesn't come in every year but your location seems to be in the area where it is most frequently found. The counties that border or include fort Bragg are known for the production of this type of honey. The three front running theories are as follows. 1: A high aluminum content in the soil that affects the nectar from the Sourwood trees. This theory is attributable to Dr. Ambrose from NCSU. 2: the summer Ti ti is a common plant in that area and does cause a condition in the colony called "blue brood" and is assumed by some to color the honey as well. 3: Bill sheppard believes that the blue honey comes from the huckleberry fruit that bees may be attracted to at this time of year. Eack of these theories has it's advocates but I don't believe that any of them has been appropriately documented yet. We have sent samples in the past to be analised by honey experts but most of them have thanked us for the unusual honey and not done any further investigation. We can try again if you would like to.


I asked the kids about selling or trading some. They make their own jellies and jams and are quite happy with those but depending on how much purple honey they actually end up with they may consider selling some. Right now they don't really have that much, this is their first year with bees and they didn't really expect to harvest any honey at all so the purple honey is a double blessing to them. I'll let you know if they decide to let some of it go.


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## darbyfamily

VERY COOL...I want purple honey!!!  wonder if I planted lots of berry plants around the hives when we set them up, if we could manage to coerce them to make some purple! (giggle)


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## yarrow

In the book, The Secret Life of Bees by Sue Monk Kidd, she writes about the special purple honey. It was the first time I ever heard of it. If I recall it was due to elderberries.
susie


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## sugarbush

what ever it is due to....it is really cool


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## Ernie

Unless I end up with "chlorine green" honey because my bees won't stay out of my neighbor's swimming pool.


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## Charlie J

We live on the coast of Oregon and for the second year and second hive, both are producing this purple honey. Last year we thought the bees were using blackberry juice during drought but now the theory is they’re using certain minerals alum in the soil because they’re always digging in the dirt around our creek before flower time. Who knows.


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## Charlie J

Btw we made mead from this raw purple honey and it was excellent


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## ed/La

Charlie J said:


> We live on the coast of Oregon and for the second year and second hive, both are producing this purple honey. Last year we thought the bees were using blackberry juice during drought but now the theory is they’re using certain minerals alum in the soil because they’re always digging in the dirt around our creek before flower time. Who knows.


The bees digging in the dirt could be harvesting mycelium that they use as medicine. Paul Stamets Is doing research on this. Many videos of his worth watching. Here is one.


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## HeavyHauler

Charlie J said:


> Btw we made mead from this raw purple honey and it was excellent


That's what I was thinking. Make some awesome mead from it!


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## RonTgottagoat

Cool


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## txsteele

I saw a YouTube video where a guy was doing a “cut out” at the New Orleans Zoo where the girls moved in behind a brick wall. As he was cutting into the comb, he got into GREEN honey??? He started looking around and found a snow cone cart close by and found that the girls were getting into the green syrup.


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## RonTgottagoat

Ahh a snowball bee. Mnnnnn


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