Wildfire flavored honey

[doggonegardener]

Hey Folks,

I searched but couldn't really find any reference to this issue. We are in Wyoming. We have had smoke in town for probably 2 weeks now. It started with the fire (the High Park fire) in Fort Collins area. Then we added a fire in the Wheatland, Wyoming area called the Arapahoe fire. Now we have a fire about 30 miles from town called the Squirrel Creek fire. We have had heavy smoke and ash for several days from this very local fire.

At any rate, on my inspection today I trimmed some very tiny bits of comb from the tops of two bars. They were protruding into the next bar's bee space and making a mess. A small amount of honey (maybe two tablespoons) was lost during this. I placed it, and the associated bees, in a bowl by the hive so the bees would have a chance to fly back to the hive. Later this afternoon I went and gathered the bowl and figured I'd share a taste of that little bit of honey with my hubby.

He stuck his finger in the bowl and took a taste and said "it's smokey". I tried it and it's awful! Acrid and bitter and tastes horribly of smoke.

Here's my question. I am a new beek. I have done inspections every week since April 26th trying to learn about my bees and also keep things building smoothly in my foundationless TBH. I did use smoke VERY SPARINGLY on 3 inspections (little puff in the entrance and little puff across the top then wait and no more for the rest of the inspection) but haven't used it again since. It's been SEVERAL weeks since I've even LIT my smoker. I am confident all this smoke taste is coming from the smoke in the air from the fires. Has anyone else ever experienced this? Will it deter the bees from eating the honey when they need it?

What are your thoughts?

Is there anything I should do to help the bees. They seem to be working. Flying in and out about as normal...maybe a little less but it's also been hot, hot, hot here.

Thanks,

Rene

[Vance G]

Make sure they have a close supply of water. That is about all you can do as the fires are beyond your control. The bees won't mind the smokey flavor I would venture. Fires are bad this year.

[Scrapfe]

... We have had heavy smoke and ash for several days from this ...local fire... I trimmed... comb from ...two bars... I placed it... in a bowl by the hive... [later] this afternoon I figured I'd share a ...bit of honey with my hubby.... it's awful! Acrid and bitter and tastes ...of smoke... I am confident... this smoke taste is coming from the smoke in the air from the fires.... Will it deter the bees from eating the honey when they need it?...

Why not re-open the hive and grab a sample of honey that hasn't been sitting in a bowl under a shower of falling smoke particles and bits of fly ash all afternoon. Then you can form a better opinion about the actual taste of your honey. As for the bees liking smoked honey, if they didn't like it or couldn't use it, they would in my opinion ditch it.

However with the premiums we humans sometimes pay for luxury foods like Bar-B-Q, sausages, hams, cheeses, even table salt that has been smoked to enhance the flavor, you may be on to the next big thing in honey production. Next time use a lot less fly ash and a little less smoke. Good luck.

[dmpower]

I agree with Scrapfe about testing a batch.
I would think if anything were smoked it would be the wax, or at least it would be the wax that may have some particles left on it. When you test another batch try to get capped honey that hasn't been spread across the comb.
Good luck!!
Smoked beer sells great, I can't stand the taste but others love it.
Maybe smoked honey will have a market.
Doreen

[Lburou]

I agree with scrapfe completely

Is the Monolith Plant still in operation South of Laramie?

[Acebird]

It would be hard to tell if she was tasting honey made before the fire as oppose to after the fire. Or maybe not...
The smoke may not be a problem but the after taste could be a sign of chemicals used to control the fires. If at all possible I would try to segregate this honey from human consumption.

[doggonegardener]

This honey was capped at the top of the bars on a bar they just drew out in the last couple of weeks. This is a new hive so I know when the honey was brought in. Sometime between June 12 and now. There have been fires in the region nearly the entire time.

As for it being the next hot ingredient...it's not. It's terrible. I almost spit it out.

I wonder if it's getting flavored in the hive by the smoke in the air or if the bees are bringing in flavored nectar from the ask and smoke accumulating on the flowers?

As for chems in the honey that would not be safe, it's hard to say. The nearest fire is 30 miles away, well outside their flying zone but since we have ash falling in town it's hard to know what blowing to town on our relentless wind.

Thanks for the feedback.

They have a backyard pond and several birdbaths that they frequent in the yard and they really like the soaker hoses from my flower beds. Plenty of water. Didn't plan to take any honey since this is my first season so it's not a big loss for me...just surprised me greatly that it tasted so bad. We had tasted in the same fashion before and it was lovely.

Rene

[jim lyon]

Sounds like a pretty good perspective, if you don't like the honey then I am sure the bees will do just fine off of it. As to whether there could be chemical contaminants from fire retardants dispersed in the air I have no idea if that is possible but if it is then you have a major story in the vein of Chernobyl since you have at least a couple million people living along I-25 from Colorado Springs to Fort Collins. At the very least they have had some horrible air quality issues out there in recent weeks.

[Lauri]

Rene, If it were me and the honey was smokey and strong I'd add some Jalapenos, onions and vinegar to it and use it for a BBQ marinade-or add other ingredients and have a sweet/smokey BBQ sauce> Sounds yummy... Don't forget to brush it on your fresh salmon. Might be a great new recipe!
I don't know how many hives you have or if you sell your honey or not. You could market your '2012 wildfire vintage' honey to butcher shops as that "Special ingredient' for meat and fish. I'd actually like to try some myself.

[Lburou]

Smoke is natual, right? From Wikipedia, the retardants principally release water and carbon dioxide.

...snip...There are several ways in which the combustion process can be retarded by physical action:

• By cooling: Some chemical reactions actually cool the material down.
• By forming a protective layer that prevents the underlying material from igniting.
• By dilution: Some retardants release water and/or carbon dioxide while burning. This may dilute the radicals in the flame enough for it to go out.

Commonly used fire retardant additives include mixtures of huntite and hydromagnesite, aluminium hydroxide, and magnesium hydroxide. When heated, aluminium hydroxide dehydrates to form aluminum oxide (alumina, Al₂O₃), releasing water vapor in the process. This reaction absorbs a great deal of heat, cooling the material into which it is incorporated. Additionally, the residue of alumina forms a protective layer on the material's surface. Mixtures of huntite and hydromagnesite work in a similar manner. They endothermically decompose releasing both water and carbon dioxide^[6][7] , giving fire retardant properties^[8][9][10] to the materials in which they are incorporated...snip...

[doggonegardener]

Ok, we trimmed a little again this week and tasted directly from the knife...no sitting in the bowl. No smokey flavor. Maybe it WAS just the stuff sitting in the bowl with the smoke all around that day. I also asked the fellows in our very little bee group on Thursday and none of them had issues.