which Asian culture values block honey?

[LivelyHive]

Hello,
I'm planning to keep bees on the back deck of my townhouse. My neighbors who share the fence are from Thailand, and I want to encourage good feelings towards beekeeping.

The instructor for my beekeeping class mentioned that certain Asian cultures highly value chunk honey as an ingredient in traditional dishes. My Thai neighbors might enjoy honey personally, but I've been unable to find any clues suggesting that the Thai people value chunk honey within their traditions. Does a different Asian culture have this specific taste? The instructor didn't provide any other information, only that some Asian culture has a sweet tooth for chunk honey.

Is anyone here aware of this tradition, or part of the culture themselves? Is there anything specific I can do to impress my Thai neighbors?

[Kathyp]

http://forum.beemaster.com/index.php/topic,11859.0.html

here is a  picture that my husband took in Thailand a few years ago.  as was pointed out, it looks like brood comb.

as for trying to decide what a culture likes....i'm not sure that's the right question.  they are people.  how do they feel about bees being so close?  will your bees interfere with their enjoyment of their home? 

if and when you have honey, i would think any gift would be appreciated.

[rdy-b]

many from that culture ask me for brood-it is a specalty item and they pay very well-RDY-B

[Natalie]

First off the most specific thing you can do to impress your neighbors will be to keep from getting them stung while they are out enjoying themselves on their deck, you need to find out if they are okay with you having a hive so close to their property.
Are your decks as close to eachother as I imagine?
I put my hives on the far side of my yard, as far away as the neighbor's deck as I possibly could and they are fine with that but its a good size area between us, so you want to make sure your hives face away from anyone's deck, you may have to maniuplate their flight path as well.

Secondly, I would not be worrying about trying to impress honey and it really won't matter what type.
You don't want to lock yourself into a type that you cannot provide for whatever reason.
Just because they are from another country does not mean they prefer a particular type of honey, they are living here and that may not even be a part of a culture they partake in.
What I do with the neighbor's and what I suggest you do is bring over a couple of different types of honey if you can.
I bring over a regular jar of honey, a jar of honey with a chunk of honey comb in it which is called chunk honey around here and a box of honey comb, which is a square of honey in the comb which you cut to fit a particular box that the bee supply companies sell.
After that when we talk they will tell you all about how much they enjoyed the honey and you can usually figure out which type/types they enjoyed the most and send that over to them from then on.
During the conversation they may end up telling you about what they eat in their country or there may be an opportunity for you to ask at that point but you don't want to just go over and knock on their door and ask what kind of honey they ate in their country, what if it was the brood comb, you most likely will not have any brood comb to spare during your first year of beekeeping.
Good luck with it I hope it works out for you.

[Bee Happy]

I'm thinking that overall American culture finds honey a real treat, but I do have a couple friends who wouldn't touch "bee puke" with a fishing pole.
I don't think you'd get beat up for offering your neighbor some honey. They might just wave you off and forever think you're goofy and wierd, but I crossed that bridge a long way back and the bees only act as more evidence to some people.