Does smoke taint the honey?

[Jack London]

When you use a smoker repeatedly over the course of a season, does the smoke give the honey a "smokey" taste? Is it bad for the honey?

[Rader Sidetrack]

I don't believe smoker smoke is a problem with honey and hives. Its very unlikely that a hive could get smoked so often, so heavily that the honey would be affected. More likely, before that happens, the bees will abscond and find a better place to live.

[jmgi]

I'm with Rader, it would be tough to get a smoked honey flavor. John

[Daniel Y]

Yep, so all your honey is ruined. send it to me for proper disposal.

[Riskybizz]

Smoke is generally not an issue in regards to tainting capped honey but...where I live the weather and environment is extremely dry and that can have effect on how the bees cure the nectar. I always try to avoid the use of extensive smoke when I pull my shallows to extract. Because its so dry here our honey doesn't retain nearly as much moisture as it does in some climates. Our relative humidity is often 5-6% whick makes it difficult to extact at times because its so thick. Our bees often leave the cells in the boxes uncapped but I pull it anyways because its ripe. I assume they know what they are doing and will go back and cap things once the nectar flow diminishes. So I often have lots of uncapped nectar cells and for that reason I avoid the use of smoke pulling honey. Generally the bees are so busy with the flow its not an issue with management. Honey is hygroscopic and will absorb moisture and odors.

[westernbeekeeper]

Yep, so all your honey is ruined. send it to me for proper disposal.

[mike haney]

beekeepers have smoked bees for thousands of years i think if it was a problem it would have noticed by now.

[Adrian Quiney WI]

I read somewhere that if you go to a honey show where they look very closely at the honey they will sometimes notice soot particles from your smoker and mark you down for it.

[mike haney]

Adrian,i find it hard to visualize how one could get soot in honey or even on honeycomb and not be burning the wings off ones bees.

[westernbeekeeper]

Oh, it's happened to me too. Don't know exactly how it happens, but it does.

[Vance G]

I think those "soot Particles" could better be described as cocoon particles. The only time I find them is when I uncap dark comb.

[Adrian Quiney WI]

Mike, what I think happens is that smoke, which contains little carbon particles, floats through the frames and some of those particles rest on open cells of honey and become trapped. I should imagine that the particles in the smoke vary with the type of material that is burned.

[Adrian Quiney WI]

Vance, good point. Perhaps that is what the judges see? Cocoon particles would be larger and more visible.

[mike haney]

maybe its keepers trying to revive a smoker going out and pumping too quickly - or smokers too hot and burning but not smoking and being pumped too hard looking for smoke....
thats why i love this forum-it makes me reflect and to try and see things like i did starting out.

[Michael Bush]

>Does smoke taint the honey?

Not if you do it right. It only takes a puff of smoke to calm a hive. You should NOT be filling the hive with smoke.

[Mr.Beeman]

You can assuredly get a taste of smoke in honey. If you smoke too heavy, it will taint the stored nectar before it is capped. Don't even ask how I know... still ticks me off! lol
Like brylcream, a little goes a long way.

[Adrian Quiney WI]

Maybe it could be marketed as a special ingredient for BBQ sauce.

[DC Bees]

I talked to a beekeeper from Maryland about a year ago and he told me that he tried smoking the bees down out of the supers which in turn made the honey taste like smoke. So he used the honey to make BBQ sauce. My guess was that the honey had not been capped to well.

[JClark]

My guess was that the honey had not been capped to well.

Probably. My first harvest I smoked the remaining bees down out of a fixed comb warre box to harvest it (used an escape board first). That box made the whole garage smell of smoke while it sat for a few hours. We used the crush and strain technique and the honey came out fine. Not a whiff or taste of smoke in it even though the combs smelled of smoke. All the comb was 85-90% capped at least.