spicy hot honey - like chili peppers

[TX Ashurst]

I took advantage of a warm spell here in Texas to feed my bees thin syrup and give them a boost. I put boardman feeders in and one hive was so packed with honey that I had to break some comb to get the frame out. It is beautiful comb - new last year - with a golden hue. So when I was done, I took a chunk and popped it in my mouth. The flavor was good, but as soon as the honey was gone, my mouth started to burn. 20 minutes later I arrived at my son's house and asked for something to eat because my mouth was still burning. I've never heard of Thai-style (hot!) honey before. Anyone else have any experience with it?

[Dick Allen]

i've occassionally had some honey that has had a little "nip" to it, but nowhere severe as you describe.

[xC0000005]

My bees produced some honey last year right before the blackberry flow that was so sharply flavored it made my mouth "tingle". We have a neighbor with a massive herb garden and all I can figure is the bees got into something there. Hot honey - oooh, I could glaze a chicken with it.

[honeyman46408]

Mexican" honey new marketing idea :D

[ScadsOBees]

Do your bees have hair on their chests????:D

[Ross]

Yep, I'm thinking Bar B Q sauce. Can you spell WINGS. I've had very citrus tasting honey from the horsemint around here, but never hot. You sure you didn't eat bee :)

[MapMan]

Is it possible that this honey stored from last year has been in touch with Capsaicin from peppers? For example, I threw a bunch of old watermelons on the compost heap last fall, and the bees were gutting the fruits to get at all of the sweetness.

It is possible that close to your hives some extremely hot peppers were growing. We're talking Texas, right? Peppers grow like weeds down there. Now, if the bees got into the pepper fruits, some transfer of the Capsaicin from the hot peppers might have gotten onto the comb. Some peppers are so hot that only a minuscule amount might be necessary to spice things up a bit.

MM

[Jack T.]

The lovely Mrs. Jack T and I were just discussing this last night. . .but we both really enjoy hot/spicy food so we were trying to figure out if we could "encourage" bees to produce hot honey from our pepper plants. :D

[MapMan]

The lovely Mrs. Jack T and I were just discussing this last night. . .but we both really enjoy hot/spicy food so we were trying to figure out if we could "encourage" bees to produce hot honey from our pepper plants. :D

If you want, I can provide you with some Capsicum Oleoresin, 1,000,000 shu which you can add to your honey... I'd say that just one to two drops should spice up a five gallon pail of honey.

MM

[mike haney]

i have produced wildflower honey that made my mouth ITCH. i suspected i was mildly allergic to some component- like mayby poison ivy.

[Robee]

So do you think the hot taste could be from the wax and not the honey? You did say that the honey was good.
Rob

[heartbeat]

ash, the honey you made is from a plant called Snow on the Mountain.(http://www.plantoftheweek.org/week274.shtml)

martin