aster honey is it worth it

[wjw777]

my bees produced supers of aster honey this fall packed the hive full. removed two medium supers. is it worth selling? the smell is rank so sweet at times it hurts the teeth but i think the flavor is good . tell me what you think about aster honey thank you

[henry]

What color is it? I thought mine was from goldenrod. I never thought of aster. Mine is colored darker than molasses, smelled of sweat socks as it was being made in the hive, but has the best taste of all that I have extracted this year.And it tested only 17% moisture,barely will come out of the squeeze bottle. Could this be from aster?
Henry

[DCH]

Hey wjw777,

I see we're in the same neighborhood. Can't say that we've ever taken off enough in the fall for us to beleive that we had mostly Aster honey to package. Usually, it's a mix of Goldenrod and Aster. Good tasting stuff, I think, and pretty dark.

However, we do get some stuff in the late spring that has such a tangy sweet taste to it, I find it pretty unappealing. We usually blend it in with the rest of the honey to cut down the distinctive flavor.

Did you think about maybe blending your Aster honey in with some of your other honey? It might help the flavor.

Then again, somebody might say, "Oooo! Aster honey! I'll pay $5 for that!".

Cheers,
Doug

[BULLSEYE BILL]

>somebody might say, "Oooo! Aster honey! I'll pay $5 for that!".

More than likely, a brewer wanting to make Aster mead.

Yeah, that's it! Aster Blaster Mead!

[This message has been edited by BULLSEYE BILL (edited October 14, 2004).]

[DCH]

>Yeah, that's it! Aster Blaster Mead!

I'm not sure I'd want to see the label on that one...

[wjw777]

DCH Hi Buddy, nice to see a neighbor in here. Six weeks ago my season was a big zero as far as honey goes. As you know we had a cold wet spring and a very cool summer.I put to medium supers on most frames with drawn comb around the beginning of August. Looked in the first week of September and maybe a quarter of the first super was being worked on the second one a big zero. Week an ahalf ago went in was thinking of just removing the supers and calling it a year. Man, was i suprised out of the 19 frames 17 were completly capped and the other two were 75 per cent capped. took off the supers and put them in my spare room we you walk in it almost gives one a tooth acke it smells so sweet. extracted the one super last nite the color is a light amber color or some call light golden. Taste great . The only flowers blooming around here I think was goldenrod and aster and the aster was everywhere. what do you think . bottling tonite. how was your season DCH your neighbor
Walt

[wjw777]

DCH the smell around the hive was rank but the honey super didnt smell to much like that i think it was the pollen more than the honey. its really pretty good tasting. like i said earlier its a like golden yellow sort of pretty. I think goldenrod makes a dark honey please correct me if im wrong and the goldenrod around here i saw very few bees but on the little white aster flowers it sounded like a swarm at times
Please give me your opion thanks again
Walt

[wjw777]

Hi Henry,
my honey is a light golden yellow no darkness about it at all. I always thought goldenrod was a darker color. I have tasted it before and loved the taste. Im leaning on this honey as aster what is your opion buddy, im all ear's for your opion thanks
Walt

[henry]

Hi Walt. This is my first year so I know very little about honey color and what it is from. I have read that goldenrod is what makes that sweatsock smell, but I don't know for sure. All I know is I like the dark honey the best.It also was the thickest, 17% moisture. Henry.

[wjw777]

Hi Henry,
just extracted two medium supers of honey. the honey is light in color and im 99.9% sure its aster honey. within 2 1/2 weeks it was gathered and capped its very thick a real nice light yellow gold . I think goldenrod is much darker in color if im correct . the taste of this honey is excellent. more full body than spring or summer honey. now i wait for the chrystalzation game. how long and how fast it will happen . Im like you i like the fall honey better more taste do you get aster honey down there? walt

[henry]

Yes aster is still in bloom. I live near the Tennessee border so the first frost is still a few days away, I hope. The bees are still active in the afternoon so I expect there is some nectar still available. I don't know where they are putting it, the upper deep is full and capped and the lower deep is full in all but one tiny spot to lay in in all four of my hives so I don't plan on feeding. Henry

[This message has been edited by henry (edited October 17, 2004).]

[DCH]

Hey Walt,

Does't sound like Goldenrod to me. The Goldenrod peaked a few weeks back for us. As you said, must be Aster. We haven't had the strong smell since the Goldenrod peak either.

The Aster's probably what my girls have been packing away since we did our late extraction back in the third week of September. I had counted on that being it and anything left would be for the girls. I put the wet supers back on the hives over the inner cover for the girls to clean up and they just went and started putting more in. Now I'm waiting for them to organize everything so I can take the supers off again.

The year was pretty bad for us - mainly because we were attempting to build two new colonies to add to the two that survived the winter (we lost one late las fall). Only one consistantly strong hive for us as the other was used to split and ended up with a new queen in late spring, to boot! Still, four fully capped medium supers from that one hive in August, and a total of three supers of about 75% capped frames (average) from all hives in September. Not bad for what we've been doing. No surplus to sell, this year. It's all for the family. :-(

If all goes well, we'll be up to our eyeballs inhoney next year, though.

Cheers,
Doug

[wjw777]

hey doug,
I love beekeeping just for the reason you wrote in your reply, "Wait till next season , up you our eyeballs in honey" that is what makes beekeeping so fantastic, the hope and the prayer for a better crop next year. Hey doug where do you buy your supplies from i go to queen rite in Spencer
beekeeping friend
Walt

[DCH]

Hey Walt,

We've been getting what we need from Queen Right also. Though, I've been building more and more of my own stuff when it comes to bottom boards, double-screen boards, repairing queen excluders, etc. It's actually pretty fun.

Cheers,
Doug

[This message has been edited by DCH (edited October 19, 2004).]