We have extracted honey for the first time and it seems dark to us. It's about the color of coffee. We used low heat to get the honey to run out of the comb. Any opinions?
two of my buddies got honey much darker than mine, and it tasted different too.
one of them, who had a hive near a lot of sourwood, put a shallow of drawn comb on just as the sourwood started to bloom, and took it off not long after it finished blooming. the other friend's hives were only a few miles from the this one's.
Two hives 6’ apart. I pulled honey on one at the end of the flow: frame of cut comb super clear, almost did not look like honey. Remainder of the extraction of the super, slightly darker. Second hive had about 90% capped and it was like your described, coffee. We used the dark for some cooking since we considered it a lower grade but the flavour was so bold it quickly overpowered everything else. Since the two hives were so close I am also open for an explanation.
The bees just went to different flowers. I have customers that want dark honey. They like the robust flavor. It's like the difference between a light beer and a stout
It is probably the nectar source. We had very dark honey this year because our flow came early (blackberries) then shut off due to the drought. I have heated my honey for 35 years to get it to strain and I have produced the lightest colored honey. I never go over 120 degrees but more important is to minimize the time the honey is heated. Minutes will not discolor the honey at mildly elevated temps. Hours can... Ideally, if you keep the honey below 90 or 100 degrees, you will produce a more aromatic product. To summarize, unless you went above, say, 140 degrees for an extended period of time, relax and enjoy your dark honey. You may never get another crop that color...
The OP referred to using heat to "to get the honey to run out of the comb.",not to strain/filter his honey.
That would be my first suspicion of the cause of dark honey as most don't use heat to extract.
It sounds as if he was melting the wax to get the honey out, but not really clear enough for one to say for sure what if anything happened.
Thanks for the replies.
It does have a bold flavor but it definately has a good flavor. The hives were next to a blackberry patch.
Low heat was about 120 but some wax was mixed in and skimmed off, then strained through 5 gallon paint strainers.
Yes, the question isn't clear. "we extracted" and "get the honey to run out of the comb" doesn't jive. If they are melting combs, all bets are off for a dark floral source.
must be different kinds of goldenrod. ours made very very yellow honey, with the smell you described, and a strong taste that was not as sweet as our other honeys. it crystalized in a week or two. i decided not to harvest it anymore, the bees get to keep it and i don't have to feed in the fall.
Nectar source. I had two hives not more than eight inches from each other and one had a light gold and softer flavored honey where the other was an extremely dark and bolder flavored. The honey was pulled same day at the same time and since I do not blend my honeys they stayed that way. I gave a jar of the lighter honey to each member of my family. Since one of my brothers ate an extra jar I sent the brother a jar of each type of honey. He was amazed they tasted so different and I explained when they were harvested and that got him started in beekeeping himself. The cool thing is that honey tastes and amounts are different here from year to year.
Yah golden rod honey here is very bright yellow and they make new wax that is also yellow.It only smells like dirty sox when it's being cured. Once capped and extracted it smells and tastes like honey but will crystalize fast. Very nice flavor.
Did not heat enough to melt the wax but I was probably close. The honey does smell good and has a very good flavor. We just cut out 6 frames to crush and will not use heat. The honey is still a little dark but more golden.
I don't think there was any Goldenrod around. Mostly oak trees, a lot of srub brush, and gardens.
Thanks for the replys.
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