First Extraction and yuke!

[Terrex]

The honey is terrible...its amber color which I thought ...great!  I can cook with it.  But it has an off smell and the taste...you can not get rid of the taste.  Mud? Pond water?  Don't know...Tried making some bread with it, and you can smell and taste it.

Any clue what it is?  I can't eat this and do not want to offer to someone else.  DH says to feed it back to the bees, but we would still have the same problem in the end.

Teresa NW FL

[G3farms]

not sure what it might be, but could always save it and feed back to bees this winter or next spring.

[Kathyp]

fermented?

[Vance G]

Some honey is just not good tasting.  I would save it for winter feed.  Then again, that taste you don't like might be someone elses rare varietal.  I like limburger cheese.  Do you?  I hate grits and okra, do you? 

[splitrock]

Yes indeed, some honey just has a bad taste to some people. I find that half the people simply don't like the buckwheat honey, while the other half think it is GREAT!!! I've seen couples taste it, one likes the other doesn't, and they look at each other like they are both thinking the other must be crazy.

Joel

[schawee]

joel,did you notice any blisters on the frames the size of quarters or larger.the problem i had  was the capped honey fermented and  40-50 cells together blistered through out the frames.  i had that problem with one of my hives and it was fermented .i did harvest 3 frames to see what it did and the taste of it was bad.i had 3 supers of it and put them in the freezer and fed it back to the bees.      .......schawee

[bulldog]

if it is already fermented/fermenting, couldn't you use it to make mead ? just a thought.

[jredburn]

Honey must stay below 18% water or it will turn rancid.
See <http://www.thecountrybeeapiaries.com/facts.html>
Ventilation/No ventilation in a hive can cause the moisture content to rise to 50 or 60 %.  Do a search on moisture in the hives for more info and what to do.
Regards
Joe

[Jim134]

The honey is terrible...its amber color which I thought ...great!  I can cook with it.  But it has an off smell and the taste...you can not get rid of the taste.  Mud? Pond water?  Don't know...Tried making some bread with it, and you can smell and taste it.

Any clue what it is?  I can't eat this and do not want to offer to someone else.  DH says to feed it back to the bees, but we would still have the same problem in the end.

Teresa NW FL

Now you know extraction is about money the honey and the bees are just the bonus.


   BEE HAPPY Jim 134 :)

[Beeboy01]

What is blooming in your area right now and did you smell any off smells around the hives during the last few weeks when that honey crop was curing? Was the honey left over from last fall and wasn't used up because of the mild winter, if so maybe it was goldenrod honey or an aster honey which can have an off flavor. Can't think of any honey I've harvested over here on the east coast of Florida that has a muddy flavor but I've only been bee keeping down south for 6 years and I'm still learning the different honey flows and flavors.

[Terrex]

I did not take any honey last  year.  I had all swarms and was told to NOT let them starve. That I in my first year was not in the honey business but in the comb business.  Ok, that was fine with me.
Found out the honey is Goldenrod mixed with pivot (privet) which we are covered up in.  Thanks everyone...really wanted that honey for breadmaking, but tried it and the flavor is still there.  And  yes, the hives did have this dirty smell when you were up close to them.

Teresa NW FL 

[yockey5]

The Golden rod and privet honey I have collected was good after a week or two in the supers.

[Old Blue]

Texas privet is one of my alltime favorite flowers to smell.  I don't know anything about the nectar though.  I just thought that something that smells that good must make good honey!  If you find out that it was the goldenrod that spoiled it, let us know.

Old Blue
Without enough texas privet in....
Kali-bone-ya

[Beeboy01]

I heard privet honey can taste bad even though the flower is one of the sweetest smelling bloom out there. Put the supers back on the hives for the next flow and save the nasty stuff for winter feeding. 

[Intheswamp]

I've been told by several very experienced beekeepers that privet hedge down here in the south makes some very nice, light honey.  Down here we have "chinese privet".  Up in the northeast there is a different privet hedge which is to be avoided...it is reported that just a small amount of it mixed into a 55 gallon drum with other good honey can basically ruin the entire 55 gallons. 

I was happy to finally find a redeeming value to our local privet...but that's the only thing good about it!

Ed

[Beeboy01]

Learn something new every day, good to hear the southern privet makes honey that is as sweet as the bloom smells. :-D