Dark Honey To My Surprise

[Troutsqueezer]

I know this thread should go in the Honey section but you can't post pictures there so I will try it here.

Here in the Northern California foothills we have some sections with lots of Star Thistle which blooms mid to late summer, so naturally I assumed my final honey harvest this year would be Star Thistle Delight. From three of my hives I harvested around 60 lbs this weekend. Imagine my surprise when the honey came out dark, dark, dark.

I can't think of what plant this harvest might have come from. California Buckwheat seems to grow mainly along the coastal regions so I don't think that's it. I've harvested honey three times this year, you can see from the pic below that each time the honey got a little darker, from left to right.

I hear that dark honey can have up to 20 times more anti-oxidants in it than light honey so I am not disappointed. It certainly has its own flavor, much stronger than the lighter harvests.

Does anyone have any ideas about what might be in bloom around the Sacramento Foothills this time of year to produce such dark honey?

Left to right: harvest in April, July, September.

http://i149.photobucket.com/albums/s68/troutsqueezer/honey2.jpg


What's left of the old harvest with the newer harvest.

http://i149.photobucket.com/albums/s68/troutsqueezer/honey1.jpg

[kc in wv]

Dee Bee
How does the dark honey taste?

[Brent Bean]

My biggest customer told me that a lot of people are asking for the darker honey and was wondering if my last crop would be darker than the honey I sold them earlier. Things have changed use to be the lighter the honey the faster it sold. You shouldn’t have any trouble sell it.

[Flyer Jim]

We get a very dark honey that has a Molasses flavor from oak honeydew and a medium dark from tar weed. Some people really seem to like it. It adds a real good flavor to BBQ sauce and is great on oatmeal.

I noticed your label on your 1 lb jars. What size is it? It looks to be a bit smaller than the one I use. Is it an Avery label?

Thanks
Judy

[Troutsqueezer]

Dee Bee
How does the dark honey taste?

It's a little hard to describe. I haven't tasted molasses in many years but I suppose that might be the taste that comes closest to it for lack of something else to compare it to. Maybe its buckwheat then, huh?

Judy, that is a label I designed. I printed them out on photo paper to get the best resolution and color but I still have to find a reliable way to attach them. The avery labels don't give a good enough picture for me. I'm fussy. There was a discussion about this in this thread:
http://www.beesource.com/forums/showthread.php?t=208882&highlight=honey+jar%2A+label

Here is a closeup of the label. You can see I modified the label to read "Star Thistle" variety in anticipation of the harvest. I'm going to have rip that label off the jar and make some new ones!
http://i149.photobucket.com/albums/s68/troutsqueezer/starthistle.jpg

I was planning on giving the honey away to family and friends but I did notice on someone's website dark honey for sale at $8.50 for 8 oz!

[JBJ]

I would bet it is some sort of honeydew. In very dry years it is very much more probable. There are many potential sources. I have even seen bees collecting it from scale insects on willows. Oak and walnut are also common sources. I definitely would change the label form star thistle, although it probably has some thistle in it.

[Bizzybee]

Oops, musta had your labels on before you extracted.......

Shame your bees didn't get into the Thistle! I'm a big fan of dark honeys myself. But I sure do wish the Star Thistle grew down here. I helped my good buddy up in Michigan recently collecting some of it and brought a little home with me. That's some of the best honey I've ever tasted. But it's very light. Up there anyway. I do know that some honey's are darker from different regions.

[CSbees]

I believe the honey which you have harvested has come from an ornamental bamboo, commonly referred to as "chicken shade" as the chickens will get under it for shade on hot summer days. I have harvested some dark bamboo honey this year after the sourwood bloom was over.

[Ann]

Around here we have what many call Japanese bamboo (really Polygonum cuspidatum (http://www.uri.edu/ce/factsheets/sheets/jbamboo.html)) that's a member of the buckwheat family. It's very invasive and extremely difficult to control, it got its start here in the US as an ornamental back in the Victorian era. The honey from it is very dark and heavy, I'd describe it as molasses. I don't much care for it, but many seem to.

It seems so many invasives make great bee plants - purple loosestrife, japanese bamboo, all of the mints, etc.

[miele]

Don't know what the dark honey is from, though there are plenty of buckwheats in your area, but they were probably done blooming awhile ago. But if you print out labels on thickish regular paper, one can attach them pretty well by painting the back with milk. It has to be somewhat thick, or it gets too soggy.

[Ann]

Don't know what the dark honey is from, though there are plenty of buckwheats in your area, but they were probably done blooming awhile ago. Depends on the area. Japanese bamboo have just begun to bloom around here.

[BULLSEYE BILL]

When I set up at fairs I let them try both the lighter spring honey and the darker fall honey. Most people (+/- 60%) like the darker saying that it has more flavor.

I know for sure that the darker honey makes a better straight mead.

[CSbees]

Yes, I have had many inquiries about when I would get dark honey. Many people, despite what is in the grocery stores being predominantly light, want the darker honeys.