Honey

[jgp12000]

I always thought Tupelo honey was the best, I recently met a guy at Walmart with 10-25lb bags of sugar in his cart. I had to say "that's a lot of sugar", he said "it's for my bees". I asked him if he made Tupelo and he did, but told me "Sourwood" honey is even better in his opinion. I got his card and haven't got any yet, he is just 15 minutes away. Anyone tried Sourwood?

[Keta]

Bees travel a long way to harvest polen and nectar so unless there are several miles of mono crop honey is mixed.  A high % of store bought honey is adulterated  especialy highly filtered honey.  It is filtered to hide where it comes from. A high % of store bought honey comes from our "good friend" the PRC.

[philaroman]

not an expert...  zero on-line research...  just going by what Dad taught me half a century ago:
feeding bees sugar water pumps up production volume, while downgrading quality -- i.e., DISHONEST!!!
when real honey crystalizes, it's smooth, creamy, small crystals
when "sugar honey" crystalizes, it's grainy, gritty, large crystals

[Keta]

We prefer our honey crystallized.   We feed our bees drivert sugar in the winter but pull it off during nectar flow.

[jgp12000]

My cuz tolt me Tupelo doesn't crystalize not sure if its a fact, but I do have some pretty old now, maybe 5 years that hasn't.

[foakes]

Lee's Bee's make really good honey!

Best, Fred

[Keta]

My cuz tolt me Tupelo doesn't crystalize not sure if its a fact, but I do have some pretty old now, maybe 5 years that hasn't.

Some nectars crystallize faster than others, I do not know about Tupelo.   Friends of ours live well out of town and their nectar source is pine and buck brush.  The nectar flows are months apart so they have pine and buckbrush honey if they harvest the pine before the buck Brush flow.  Pine honey is tasty.

The first nectar flow where I am is willow, it makes a pale mild homey. Later in the year it is mixed source and much darker, but still tasty.  Dark honey has more anti oxidants. 

[jgp12000]

A coworker made the Tupelo honey and I know zippo about honey making, but he would put his hives near whatever the source, hence <Tupelo trees> which I never heard until he told me.

[Keta]

Bees forage up to 2 miles from the colony.

[Gfish]

"Sugar!...Oh honey, honey, you are my candy girl, and you got me wantin' you..." Interesting honey stuff here. You never know what you'll learn about when you tune in...

[philaroman]

BTW, "best honey" for what?

normally, I find buckwheat too strong, robust, overpowering
but it's my top choice for pancakes

normally, acacia is too weak, mild, bland for my tastes,
but if I cut open a honeydew that's not sweet, but has good aroma,
then a drizzle of acacia is perfect, because it doesn't overpower
(incidentally, acacia takes forever to crystalize & by the time it does, it's past its prime, IMO)

[jgp12000]

I like honey in coffee,buttered bisquits,and spun honey on half burnt buttered toast is some good eatin!

[jgp12000]

This a.m. I had grilled deer sausage links   on a bisquit with cane syrup,make you slap your grandma...

[philaroman]

try buckwheat on anything warm & absorbent, where it melts & spreads out
don't like it in beverages, at all

[jgp12000]

I will!