Banana test

[viridens]

I read the thread about eating before an inspection the other day. I thought I'd see the response of an average tempered hive of mongrels to the skin of the banana I was eating. Most of those actually on the banana had their tongues out. There were no signs of aggression and I wasn't followed after shaking them off my hand.
Maybe I'll try a vindaloo next time, but I'm not sure which part of my anatomy I would need to offer to them.

 

[StephenT]

You definitely need to rub your hands with moist pear drops next time.

 

[pargyle]

I read the thread about eating before an inspection the other day. I thought I'd see the response of an average tempered hive of mongrels to the skin of the banana I was eating. Most of those actually on the banana had their tongues out. There were no signs of aggression and I wasn't followed after shaking them off my hand.
Maybe I'll try a vindaloo next time, but I'm not sure which part of my anatomy I would need to offer to them.

View attachment 26662

It really needs to be a well ripe banana ....

 

[viridens]

That one was heavily black spotted. I don't eat them until like that, but we are in the wrong country for properly ripe bananas. I know that some young folks now think that the green/anaemic yellow firm bananas from the supermarket is how they should be eaten, and actually throw them out as 'going off' when they are getting near what I would call ripe.

 

[Frizzaldo]

maybe try banana essence or these sweets next, the warning smell the bees emit is more like the artificial banana smell fm the sweets

https://www.amazon.co.uk/Original-B...vlocphy=20496&hvtargid=pla-564882778218&psc=1

 

[Swarm]

That one was heavily black spotted. I don't eat them until like that, but we are in the wrong country for properly ripe bananas. I know that some young folks now think that the green/anaemic yellow firm bananas from the supermarket is how they should be eaten, and actually throw them out as 'going off' when they are getting near what I would call ripe.

Me and my wife honeymooned in Tenerife and I was quite put off by the small, green bananas they served up at breakfast time. Until I tried one.
Perfectly ripe, sweet fruit, nicest bananas I've ever eaten.

 

[Apiarist]

Your right Veridens
they love banana!
I give my hives a few slices of banana when I'm making nucs, they love them!

 

[Finman]

Your right Veridens
they love banana!
I give my hives a few slices of banana when I'm making nucs, they love them!

Banana has 13% free sugar and 5 % starch. Not for example protein.

Nothing else usefull in it. As well you can give normal sugar syrup and they will love it.

What to do with banana test, I have no idea.

 

[ericbeaumont]

warning smell the bees emit is more like the artificial banana smell

Isoamyl acetate is released when peeling a banana (and it doesn't have to be over-ripe). A dead skin may not be potent.

I discovered years ago when peeling one in an apiary of amiable apis: bullet from nowhere in the face. Several peelings later I googled.

Isoamyl acetate is the flavour in pear drops (no pears involved) and an industrial sweetener used in food, perfumes and who knows what else. As a bonus, it's also a by-product of brewing alcohol.

PS: Isoamyl acetate is the main chemical in the alarm pheromone of the honey bee.

 

[viridens]

I know no one likes a smartass, but:

 

[ericbeaumont]

Too many spots on the banana, I reckon.

 

[bobba]

maybe try banana essence or these sweets next, the warning smell the bees emit is more like the artificial banana smell fm the sweets

https://www.amazon.co.uk/Original-B...vlocphy=20496&hvtargid=pla-564882778218&psc=1

I have no idea if this is actually true, but I was once told the following:

The smell in those babana sweets is actually based on the Gros Michel banana. The Gros Michel was wiped out in the 50s by some fungus. So producers switched to producing the Cavendish, witch is what you would now buy from UK supermarkets. Apparently the Cavendish is not as yummy as the Gros Michel.

 

[ericbeaumont]

Apparently the Cavendish is not as yummy as the Gros Michel

The best I've tasted for years were small greenish bananas sold in a local Carribbean cash'n'carry.

They're about 100mm long and have the most dense flavour; perhaps they haven't been pumped full of fertilizers...

 

[bobba]

The best I've tasted for years were small greenish bananas sold in a local Carribbean cash'n'carry.

They're about 100mm long and have the most dense flavour; perhaps they haven't been pumped full of fertilizers...

Bananas are propagated by cuttings. Seeds are rare and funding a new market efficient variety is extremely difficult and time consuming. So there are only a very limited number of established variety's globally. So the flaver is nothing to do with the fertilizers, it just down to the variety.

In Thailand they also have small green ones, they call them Finger bananas. They may even be the same ones.

The ones we have were chosen for their productivity to grow and ease of transport. Flavor was not the prime factor. (same with strawberrys and many other products!)

 

[jenkinsbrynmair]

perhaps they haven't been pumped full of fertilizers...

Or maybe they have - and more

 

[ldwgs]

The best I've tasted for years were small greenish bananas sold in a local Carribbean cash'n'carry.

They're about 100mm long and have the most dense flavour; perhaps they haven't been pumped full of fertilizers...

the tiny Red bananas Red Dacca are gorgeous