Darkening Honey?

D Coates · February 03, 2011, 03:24:51 PM

I've found that my honey can darken substantially with minimal age. I do up to 3 harvests a year and the honeys do darken at different rates. Honey that was originally very light when harvested holds that color for about 2 to 3 months and begins to darken. Sometimes the darker honey does not darken near as much as the lighter honey. I store my harvested honey a dark corner of my attached garage in 4 gallon food grade white buckets and lids. As winter comes in I bring the containers into my basement as needed where they are warmed in a honey warmer that is kept at a constant 95 degrees (+/-5 degrees).

Am I the only one who has this occur? What's causing this and is there anything I can do to to stop it? What do you tell your customers who questions you about the different color than the batch they bought from you 2 months prior?

KD4MOJ · February 03, 2011, 03:42:37 PM

My honey only get's darker if I do a fall harvest... springtime it's amber, fall is dark. Guess it's because of what's blooming at the time.

...DOUG
KD4MOJ

hardwood · February 03, 2011, 04:14:25 PM

I recently bought some woodenware from an old timer who hasn't kept bees in 25 yrs. He gave me a bottle of his (25yo) honey and it's as black as pitch. He said it was a light amber when he bottled it.

Has a terrible flavor too.

I wonder if your heater could be causing it??

Scott

D Coates · February 03, 2011, 05:05:06 PM

I've wondered that too. The honey warmer is a large chest freezer with a digital thermostat. The heater is a single light bulb that's under a large sheet of aluminum that's screwed to 2x4 so there's dissipation of heat and no hot spots. A separate thermometer that's in there shows that the thermostat is registering correctly. I'm under the impression that 95 is a safe temperature to ensure the honey doesn't crystallize but is still within the temperature you'd find in the hive. Is there different temperature I should keep it at?

hardwood · February 03, 2011, 05:14:57 PM

I wouldn't think it's your warmer then. As you said, that's close to hive temp and besides, my honey stays around 95 or so all summer long and this hasn't happened to me yet. Then again, I sell the stuff at a pretty brisk pace and my inventory is always rotating.

What type of honey is it?

Scott

T Beek · February 03, 2011, 06:35:53 PM

How can you "really" tell? Do you use time lapse photography? I'm serious. Really :-D Memory is a "funny" thing.

thomas

BjornBee · February 03, 2011, 06:53:09 PM

It has been happening to me also.

I started about June, holding up a bottle of honey to the sky exactly at 6 o'clock pm. And each and every month, it got darker and darker. I made sure the bottle was held up at the same time every month at exactly 6 pm. And I kid you not, each month the bottle got darker and darker. By October, that honey was almost pitch black. I threw it out. Still has me scratching my head. :roll:

D Coates · February 03, 2011, 07:09:04 PM

Quote from: hardwood on February 03, 2011, 05:14:57 PMWhat type of honey is it?

Black locust/blackberry is the bulk of my late May harvest, White and yellow clover is my early July harvest, and soybean is the bulk my early Sept harvest. The first one (when I get it) is the lightest darkens the most, the last one is the darkest and darkens the least. By the time I run out (usually right before my first harvest if I'm lucky and the weather cooperates) the first harvest is now the darkest.

Quote from: T Beek on February 03, 2011, 06:35:53 PMHow can you "really" tell? Do you use time lapse photography?

Good question, they're sitting next to each other on the shelf and they've got labels indicating what harvest they're from. You can clearly see that one darkens more than the other. Some of my customers have noticed and asked about it too.

It's not gotten black but it's gotten as dark as maple syrup.

Acebird · February 03, 2011, 07:12:26 PM

Why heat it until you are ready to use it or sell it? We keep ours in a cool dark place. Of course we don't care if it crystallizes. It doesn't change its taste. The last thing I would do is keep it heated. The same for maple syrup.

hardwood · February 03, 2011, 07:22:24 PM

Bjorn, my daughter lives in Alaska. In winter honey is dark by 4:00pm!

Scott

D Coates · February 03, 2011, 07:24:17 PM

My personal and retail customers do care if it crystalizes. Squeezable bears are useless if it's crystalized. It stays liquid and lookin' good on the shelf longer if I get it to them warm and without any crystals.

Brian D. Bray · February 04, 2011, 02:40:15 AM

Quote from: hardwood on February 03, 2011, 04:14:25 PM
I recently bought some woodenware from an old timer who hasn't kept bees in 25 yrs. He gave me a bottle of his (25yo) honey and it's as black as pitch. He said it was a light amber when he bottled it.

Has a terrible flavor too.

I wonder if your heater could be causing it??

Scott

How many times has it been melted? That is warmed after cystalization. The more honey is reliquified the darker it gets. Over time it will become as black as black strap molasses and have a burnt or sour caramel taste to it.

T Beek · February 04, 2011, 07:09:42 AM

Brian D Bray: just gave the most logical answer, thanks.

thomas

T Beek · February 04, 2011, 09:00:14 AM

I agree with you Acebird.

thomas

Quote from: Acebird on February 03, 2011, 07:12:26 PM
Why heat it until you are ready to use it or sell it? We keep ours in a cool dark place. Of course we don't care if it crystallizes. It doesn't change its taste. The last thing I would do is keep it heated. The same for maple syrup.

D Coates · February 04, 2011, 10:37:58 AM

Quote from: Brian D. Bray on February 04, 2011, 02:40:15 AMHow many times has it been melted? That is warmed after cystalization. The more honey is reliquified the darker it gets. Over time it will become as black as black strap molasses and have a burnt or sour caramel taste to it.

I put a bucket in the warmer when the previous bucket is empty. I don't know or care if it is crystallized but worst case scenario twice (once in the large bucket, another in the individual container if it doesn't retail before it crystallizes. It's warmed slowly to the 95 degrees and held there until it's used up, replaced by another bucket. This is between 4 and 6 weeks.

Once it's out of the warmer the timer is started on crystallizing. If it sits out for 6 weeks before a retailer buys it you may have as little as 2 to 6 weeks before it starts crystallizing. If it doesn't retail before it crystallizes it looks unprofessional and I get a call. I do replace the crystallized honey with clear honey but it's a great way to lose customers if they are regularly calling you for what they may perceive as faulty product. You can explain it but if people aren't buying it because it isn't clear you'll lose the shelf space. If you don't sell honey wholesale you may not understand the challenge. It's not heated, it's warmed. Thats's a huge difference to me. Heated is above what you would naturally find in the hive. Warmed is the same temperature as you'd find in the hive.

T Beek · February 04, 2011, 10:41:16 AM

Maybe we should all start selling crystalised honey as a specialty honey. I'm serious.

thomas

D Coates · February 04, 2011, 10:50:20 AM

I've considered it and even asked some of my retailers. So far they look at me like I'm crazy. I haven't found it anywhere locally so the customer base may not even know it exists here. That may offer a great opportunity but at this point I'm hoping to make it to the next harvest with what I have on hand without consuming additional product by making additional offerings. I'm expanding to more hives but those are to cover comb honey production. A market that I have had good success in when I can effectively get comb honey produced.

Acebird · February 04, 2011, 02:35:49 PM

QuoteI'm expanding to more hives but those are to cover comb honey production.

Do you keep that at 95 deg. also?

In the medical field you conduct accelerated age testing experiments which are nothing more than elevating the temperature of the product. These test are done to simulate what the product will look like and act like past their normal shelf life. Almost everything will last longer at a lower temperature. Maybe you could work on your JIT inventory.

What happens when the customer brings that honey home and put it into a 50 deg. cupboard?

D Coates · February 04, 2011, 06:41:01 PM

Quote from: Acebird on February 04, 2011, 02:35:49 PM
QuoteI'm expanding to more hives but those are to cover comb honey production.
Do you keep that at 95 deg. also?

Comb honey doesn't crystalize the way liquid honey does.

Quote from: Acebird on February 04, 2011, 02:35:49 PM
What happens when the customer brings that honey home and put it into a 50 deg. cupboard?

Not my problem. Like apples or anything else for that matter, they have a shelf life. It's up to me to make sure it gets to the customer in liquid form and that it will stay that way for what they believe is a reasonable time.

I think I haven't made myself clear. Even in the bucket, the honey darkens on it's own even before I have it in the warmer.

BjornBee · February 04, 2011, 11:28:50 PM

Quote from: hardwood on February 03, 2011, 07:22:24 PM
Bjorn, my daughter lives in Alaska. In winter honey is dark by 4:00pm!

Scott

Yeah, but in summer, it never goes bad... :-D