Conker trees

[jonnybeegood]

I was wondering if it would be worth my while taking a hive to someones garden in summer who has 4 very large horse chestnut trees, would i be likely to get much honey? I know there are variables but if it was a good summer could i get a few frames of just chestnut flower honey?

 

[Amari]

I doubt it. I've noticed very few bees on horse chestnut blossom near my apiary. No experience of sweet chestnut - said to be good nectar source.

 

[Excession]

Good source of pollen, my girls like horse chestnut.

 

[jonnybeegood]

When people talk of chestnut honey being dark in colour, which type of chestnut do they mean then?

 

[Hivemaker.]

When people talk of chestnut honey being dark in colour, which type of chestnut do they mean then?

Sweet chestnut, we have a lot of sweet chestnut trees around here, and one really large forest of them... where i have a couple of apiaries, the honey from these chestnut trees is dark.

 

[jonnybeegood]

Sweet chestnut, we have a lot of sweet chestnut trees around here, and one really large forest of them... where i have a couple of apiaries, the honey from these chestnut trees is dark.

Bugger lol we dont have sweet chestnuts up here, just lots of conkers :-(

 

[Goran]

Sweet chestnut, we have a lot of sweet chestnut trees around here, and one really large forest of them... where i have a couple of apiaries, the honey from these chestnut trees is dark.

But even this chesnut is sweet, the honey is bitter.. Here ( relative near me) where are whole forests of sweet chestnuts in season are crowded with migratory beeks.
Honey considered highly healthy. Sounds sad -many people who have problem with cancer search for sweet chestnut honey..

Forgot, for a horse chestnut as to observation at my place when I watched, the bees weren't so mad for it. At same time visited more other plants. I believe the reason is % of sugar content in nectar.

 

[Tom Bick]

I was wondering if it would be worth my while taking a hive to someones garden in summer who has 4 very large horse chestnut trees, would i be likely to get much honey? I know there are variables but if it was a good summer could i get a few frames of just chestnut flower honey?

What’s in the surrounding area from your friends garden other than the four chestnut trees as this would be the deciding factor as to move or not.

If just four trees then it’s not going to be worth it unless it’s a big improvement on their current location but hard to imaging. If the conditions are right then your bees would like the chestnuts especially the pollen but equally at the same time would prefer sycamore, perhaps you are surrounded by sycamore?

 

[jonnybeegood]

What’s in the surrounding area from your friends garden other than the four chestnut trees as this would be the deciding factor as to move or not.

If just four trees then it’s not going to be worth it unless it’s a big improvement on their current location but hard to imaging. If the conditions are right then your bees would like the chestnuts especially the pollen but equally at the same time would prefer sycamore, perhaps you are surrounded by sycamore?

Yes we have lots of sycamore & a few small horse chestnut, the gardens where the 4 trees are there will be gardens with garden plants/flowers, the trees are quite prominant as they are huge trees with lots of flowers so i thought they would be their first choice to visit but if they are low in nectar then maybe its not worth the trouble.

 

[yeogi75]

maybe low in nectar but high in pollen for new bees

ps put pollen trap on for a day to collect pollen and use for spring build up of nucs

 

[REDWOOD]

Sweet Chestnut kicks on the back of the throat, not my favorite honey

 

[rockdoc]

I wonder if some of this dark honey might be honey dew. I had a similar experience in 2013. Tested it for pollen, found very little and a senior beek reckoned it tasted like honey dew.

 

[REDWOOD]

Sweet Chestnut pollen

 

[Swarm]

Aye, dark and quite bitter. Not very nice at all.

 

[beebombus]

Hi, re Horse chestnuts, bees certainly work for both nectar and pollen in April and it does indeed produce a dark honey. Sweet chestnut produces masses of pollen but not much nectar. Consequently I've never heard of anybody in my locality getting a crop from it.

 

[enrico]

Sweet chestnut used to be my main crop at my old house. It is a difficult honey to eat on its own as it sort of burns the back of your throat but on toast it is a good strong honey that you can taste. Was a nice dark brown that set to a sort of thick consistency without going solid. Was grateful for it!
The sweet chestnut pollen that redwood has put on there looks more like horse chestnut to me, pollen from horse chestnut is noticeable by its bright red colour!
E

 

[masterBK]

I presume enrico is aware that the sweet chestnut pollen photo provided by Redwood has been stained that colour (fuchsin?). Horse chestnut pollen looks very different under the microscope (roundish grain, furrow with large pore in the middle and a row of "dots" along the furrow).

 

[enrico]

I presume enrico is aware that the sweet chestnut pollen photo provided by Redwood has been stained that colour (fuchsin?). Horse chestnut pollen looks very different under the microscope (roundish grain, furrow with large pore in the middle and a row of "dots" along the furrow).

No.....thanks....presumed it was just pollen!
E