Alternate uses for honey

[FJA]

Just wondering about alternate uses for honey.
If I had a surplus of honey, to my requirements, and I didn't want to get into selling it, or else some of it was dirty, has anyone heard of it being fed to any type of animal livestock, without problems ?
I don't really need to feed it back to my bees.

[Beeslave]

Dirty? Medications?

[FJA]

Dirty? Medications?

Not medications, just pollen and larvae bits. Some of it was from a cutout feral hive.
But surely beekeepers must sometimes get honey, that is not A-grade for human consumption, but at the same time is not contaminated toxic or poisonous.

[Beeslave]

So what you have is really raw honey. Eat it. If you want it "not dirty" just filter it. I see nothing wrong with it especially since the cutout colony never had any beekeeper applied chems(I'm assuming). About the livestock feed, I'm sure hogs would eat it but they might become a little hyper. You could sell it for double the price and label it "for external use only(wound dressing)".

[FJA]

Eat it.

I do eat a lot of honey.
But usually have a surplus.
But not enough to have the hassle of organising to sell it.

Out of interest, I wonder how many animals, would seek out and thrive on some honey.
Bears and honey badgers, come to mind immediately.
Supposedly there is a bird, called the honeyguide, that guides badgers to a beehive, then takes a share of the broken hive.

[BigLongYellowMFerz]

Coons, possums, skunks and almost all varmints LOVE it.
Honey as well as brood.

[FJA]

varmints LOVE it.

Does "varmints" include rats and mice ?

(we don't use the word in Australia, but hear it in the US media)

[FJA]

To be honest, I think my honey tastes a bit funny.
I eat it, but would not be totally confident selling it.
It is suburban Sydney honey, so there must be a very diverse floral source.
Maybe it might also be that I use the scrape and strain method, of harvesting (using a coarse wire mesh).
But anyway, occasionally I buy a jar at the supermarket, taste it, and think hmmmmm - so nice.
Maybe its just what I have been used to all my life.

[BigLongYellowMFerz]

Does "varmints" include rats and mice ?

(we don't use the word in Australia, but hear it in the US media)

It prolly would, but it usually used to describe larger pests in my experience.

[beedeetee]

It prolly would, but it usually used to describe larger pests in my experience.

Including humans sometimes.

[bdrowe]

I think this tread got off topic, but to answer the original question...
There seem to be many possible medical applications. Not a new idea, since the Romans used it to heal.
Mead. Yep, the old monk's brew.

How about this one - Honey to Mead, Mead distilled to ethonal, E. to power your car. A new concept for Bee P.

[FJA]

Mead distilled to ethonal, E. to power your car..

Thats a very creative thought.
Should be a lot of energy in honey, since its more than 99% sugars (not counting the water)
Hope you don't offend anyone though,
like I did, and be classified as a varmit.

By way, I saw my first varmit pest, last night -
a rat feeding on dying bees underneath the hive.

[KQ6AR]

We have a wild animal rescue/rehab called Lindsey in our area. They are asking for extra local honey for a fox, & other animals with allergies.

[Beeslave]

Oldtimers used honey for trapping fox and raccoon but it was outlawed due to the risk of disease to bees. Lead is a good cure for those animals with allergies and it also helps keep there bad genes out of the wild population. But some would rather spend $100's instead of $0.15.

[Countryboy]

Molasses is added to cow and horse feed sometimes. I imagine you could make a sweet feed with honey if you wanted to. Dogs like sweets.

You can always do a split or a nuc, and feed them that honey.