What's your favorite Honey?

[randy41]

i sold some of my honey at the farmers market this past saturday for $10 a pint.

 

[Larro Darro]

My FAV is any that someone gives me!

One of the local timber companies always gives honey away at Christmas. Margie is good friends with the lady who runs the office, so we always get a case of the little honey bears. Some years it is even Tupelo. But even when it's just clover, free honey always taste best.

Larro

 

[Bird]

I didn't think to look and see what the price was today on the local honey at Walmart, but their house brand (Great Value) clover honey was $7.38 for a quart (32 oz.).

 

[NorTracNY]

As with most agriculture products, it's best to know your source. The flood of honey from China is a major problem. The pesticides that are allowed in China will be in the honey. If you want the benefits of real honey make sure you know what it is. Most honey on store shelves has been ultra-filtered to remove the pollen or heated to kill the pollen. This is done for 2 reasons. If there is no pollen then you cannot tell the source of the honey and it won't crystallize. Many customers in this country like that their "honey" will never crystallize. China likes that they can create a "honey" that you can't detect the source.

Also be aware that the FDA despite the problems does not define what honey is. Honey does not need to come from flowers. You can just feed bees HFCS and call it "honey."

 

[Bird]

You can just feed bees HFCS and call it "honey."

OK, what is "HFCS"? High Fructose Corn Syrup maybe?

Of course I know you can make something that tastes exactly like honey and few, if any, people could tell it's not the real thing by tasting it. When my parents lived in Alaska, they learned to make "Homestead Honey" and we also made some ourselves in Texas just to try out the recipe. I see a recipe for Homesteader's Fireweed Honey on the Internet. The only difference in that recipe and what we leaned to make back in the '70s was that we didn't have any fireweed or pink clover blossoms. We used white clover blossoms and red rose blossoms.

 

[SPIKER]

Growing up my Dad was the county Bee Keeper Society President (Median County Ohio) and was so for maybe 20 years running. I liked pretty much ALL of it but I think the PLUM and WILD Berry (black berry, raspberry, cherry) were first into the comb real early and some years were better than others. Bad year would get a late frost or have too dry/wet snow pack could Affect-Kill Bees or Blossoms. My property NOW (not the old farm most of that was sold off or into my oldest brothers name) I planted lots of American Plum has tons of Berries but all the Bees are wild.

I trade Maple Syrup for Honey with the man that I bought my property from so still get the Good Stuff...

Clover is OK but almost flavorless when you are used to Dark honey and wild flower.

Mark

 

[sseelhoff]

It looks no less a poet than Van Morrison would agree with you:

You can take all the tea in china
Put it in a big brown bag for me
Sail right around the seven oceans
Drop it straight into the deep blue sea
Shes as sweet as tupelo honey
Shes an angel of the first degree
Shes as sweet as tupelo honey
Just like honey from the bee

Van Morrison - Tupelo Honey - YouTube

Thanks for putting that song in my head. Seriously. Love me some Van Morrison.

 

[Larro Darro]

Thanks for putting that song in my head. Seriously. Love me some Van Morrison.

I love the line, 'turn up your radio so I can hear the song. Switch on your electric light then we can get down to what is really wrong' in Caravan. One of my favorite versions is when he was singing with The Band in the Last Waltz.

Larro

 

[Honeybees]

Honey in the comb is just about as natural as it gets. You get to see how the bees package the honey for their consumption. Favorite honey...My Honey!

 

[NorTracNY]

OK, what is "HFCS"? High Fructose Corn Syrup maybe?

Of course I know you can make something that tastes exactly like honey and few, if any, people could tell it's not the real thing by tasting it. When my parents lived in Alaska, they learned to make "Homestead Honey" and we also made some ourselves in Texas just to try out the recipe. I see a recipe for Homesteader's Fireweed Honey on the Internet. The only difference in that recipe and what we leaned to make back in the '70s was that we didn't have any fireweed or pink clover blossoms. We used white clover blossoms and red rose blossoms.

Yes, High frutose corn syrup. It's common in industry to feed HFCS early to build up the colonies strength so they can pollenate the acres and acres of almonds. Responsible beekeepers would not do this with honey supers on (the boxes that you actually take honey from), but there is nothing to stop people from doing it. In the 70s when HFCS started, they had trouble testing honey to know if it was "watered down" with HFCS. To me, it's not honey if it isn't made by bees going out to blossoms.