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Cotton Honey

3K views 7 replies 7 participants last post by  AstroBee 
#1 ·
First year bee keeper here; started with two nucs in May, 2013. Both hives are Italians and are doing well. I placed a honey super on the strongest hive on August 2nd when I noticed the cotton blooms were starting to appear. On September 20th, I pulled the honey super off the hive.

Here are some of the frames:

Bee Wood Beehive Apiary Membrane-winged insect
Bee Insect Beehive Apiary Honeycomb
Bee Insect Beehive Membrane-winged insect Wood


Here are the final results: 9 quarts of cotton honey. I am very proud of my girls!

Canning Mason jar Preserved food Fruit preserve Lekvar
 
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#2 ·
Congratulations!

Never got a thimble full of cotton honey & it's growing all around me. It's either the soil, moisture or type of cotton planted. AND I'm not that far away from you either!!!

The only thing I've gotten from cotton is ............clothes!
 
#3 ·
I tasted cotton honey for the first time last week.It has a very unique taste,unlike any other I have tried.I really liked the taste but others might disagree.If I had a large amount to sell I would either market it separately,at a higher price,or blend it with wildflower to lighten the color of the wildflower.The cotton honey I tried was as light as the lightest clover honey.
 
#7 ·
Does that mean that the pictured honey may not be cotton?
Walt
No.Different bees,different place,time and most of all,different wildflowers growing in the area.It doesn't take much of a mix to darken light honey.It is for this reason that I never advertise my honey as being from a single floral source.I go out each morning and tell my girls to work only on certain blooms but they never listen.
edited to add...you should see the different colors here each spring sold as "pure" tupelo.
 
#8 ·
I agree that cotton is usually very light. I was surprised this year to see that it was somewhat darker. Still tastes like cotton honey, but a little darker than most years. BTW, this was a bad year for cotton nectar. Not sure what explains it, but I got a fraction of my typical yield. I was much cooler this summer and perhaps that explains it.
 
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