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Author Topic: Off-Seeming Honey  (Read 1716 times)

Offline The15thMember

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Off-Seeming Honey
« on: August 18, 2022, 05:27:57 pm »
I'm working through crushing and straining my last frames of honey for the season.  I have a frame of sourwood which I just did by itself because something seems a little odd about it.  The honey doesn't taste quite right; I'm not sure what the taste is, but all I know is when I taste it I don't go "Awww, yeahh!!", I go "Igh, weird".  I'm not sure it's not a little fermented, but I've encountered plenty of fermented honey and it's not exactly like that.  The honey seems very watery, but according to my refractometer it's not horribly high at 21% (sourwood is usually 19% for reference).  It almost feels a little slimy; it doesn't string when I pull it between my fingers, and it slides around in the bucket without sticking to the sides.  My first thought was beetles got to it, but it doesn't have that characteristic orange taste or smell that beetle-slimed honey has, and I had it sitting on the counter for a few days waiting its turn and there just weren't any beetles or larvae, who surely would have run rampant in the absence of any bees.  The frame looked entirely normal.  It was fully capped and was brand new drawn wax.  Any ideas what's up with it? 
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Offline TheHoneyPump

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Re: Off-Seeming Honey
« Reply #1 on: August 21, 2022, 12:54:03 am »
21 is quite high. In my shop that is wet / Green unusable honey.  Like a green banana vs a yellow banana.  Green tomato vs red tomato.  etc.

If not that, then a walk about the forage area around the hive(s) can usually identify what plant(s) are or were yielding at the time that frame was filled.  Not all honeys are pleasing to the palate. Some are actually quite nasty.

Likely none of that helps, but that is what came to mind ...
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Offline The15thMember

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Re: Off-Seeming Honey
« Reply #2 on: August 21, 2022, 01:09:12 pm »
21 is quite high. In my shop that is wet / Green unusable honey.  Like a green banana vs a yellow banana.  Green tomato vs red tomato.  etc.

If not that, then a walk about the forage area around the hive(s) can usually identify what plant(s) are or were yielding at the time that frame was filled.  Not all honeys are pleasing to the palate. Some are actually quite nasty.

Likely none of that helps, but that is what came to mind ...
Hey, there's no bad ideas when you're brainstorming!  :happy:  Based on the color, flavor, and time of year, I'm almost sure this is sourwood honey that something happened too, not a weird variety of honey I've never seen before. 

I've been kicking around a couple of ideas, none of which I can really confirm or not. 
1) This honey is fermenting, but something is different about how it's fermenting, because it doesn't smell, act, or taste like my typical fermentation.  Could it be a different strain of yeast?  Could the yeast be reacting differently to the high-fructose sourwood as opposed to the high-glucose honeys that typically ferment for me?

2) The bees got into something that they mixed with the sourwood, something that either was fermented and caused the honey to ferment as a result or something that is sweet and oily. 

The thing that seems strange to me is that this frame was fully capped.  So the bees must have been satisfied with the water content, which is odd.  I mean I know the bees didn't read the book, but it makes me wonder if the water content was low when it was capped and it's high now BECAUSE it's fermenting, but why was it fermenting in the comb?         
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Offline Bill Murray

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Re: Off-Seeming Honey
« Reply #3 on: August 22, 2022, 09:07:01 pm »
Sounds like they got into some CABBAGE PALM, to me. The honey is thin and watery even after capping, its a light amber color with a mild odor and flavor. I actually like it. I mix it with tallow for my use.

Offline The15thMember

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Re: Off-Seeming Honey
« Reply #4 on: August 22, 2022, 10:19:18 pm »
Sounds like they got into some CABBAGE PALM, to me. The honey is thin and watery even after capping, its a light amber color with a mild odor and flavor. I actually like it. I mix it with tallow for my use.
Pretty sure that doesn't live here.  :wink:
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Offline The15thMember

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Re: Off-Seeming Honey
« Reply #5 on: August 23, 2022, 09:06:01 pm »
Well it's definitely fermenting now.  I had put this weird honey in a plastic container, and it was foaming like crazy this evening.  This still doesn't answer all the questions, but it does answer some. 
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Offline yes2matt

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Re: Off-Seeming Honey
« Reply #6 on: August 26, 2022, 06:15:08 am »
They picked up a weird yeast somewhere.

Either that or it was a comb damaged by SHB.

Them's my guesses.

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Offline Ben Framed

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Re: Off-Seeming Honey
« Reply #7 on: August 27, 2022, 06:41:09 am »
Well it's definitely fermenting now.  I had put this weird honey in a plastic container, and it was foaming like crazy this evening.  This still doesn't answer all the questions, but it does answer some.

They picked up a weird yeast somewhere.

Either that or it was a comb damaged by SHB.

Them's my guesses.

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Tough break Reagan to loose any honey. Especially Sourwood Honey.

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Offline The15thMember

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Re: Off-Seeming Honey
« Reply #8 on: August 27, 2022, 04:39:47 pm »
Tough break Reagan to loose any honey. Especially Sourwood Honey.

Phillip
Thankfully it was only one shallow frame, so only 1 qt.   
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Offline Acebird

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Re: Off-Seeming Honey
« Reply #9 on: August 28, 2022, 09:25:01 am »
Over dose of honey dew maybe?
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Offline The15thMember

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Re: Off-Seeming Honey
« Reply #10 on: August 28, 2022, 05:59:56 pm »
Over dose of honey dew maybe?
I really don't think so.  Sourwood has a distinctive taste and color, and I'm almost sure this is sourwood that something happened to, not a variety of honey I'm unfamiliar with. 

They picked up a weird yeast somewhere.

Either that or it was a comb damaged by SHB.

Them's my guesses.
I think this is the most probable answer. 
I come from under the hill, and under the hills and over the hills my paths led.  And through the air, I am she that walks unseen.

 

anything