Elderflower cordial "honey"

[W0otz]

I was just making up a batch of elderflower cordial following the River Cottage recipe when it occurred to me that it's not much more than elderflower-infused 1:1 syrup. I wonder what the resulting product would be like if you made up several litres and fed it to the bees until they capped it over. I know you couldn't call it honey, but I reckon it would taste significantly different than just reducing down the syrup yourself due to bee enzymes, being mixed with incoming nectar, etc.

Might be blummin' nice on a crumpet.

If it doesn't poison the bees.


Anyone fancy trying it?
Pick 1 hive, feed 'em this through the June gap, extract along with the summer honey for a nicely tainted batch?

 

[Erichalfbee]

I was just making up a batch of elderflower cordial following the River Cottage recipe when it occurred to me that it's not much more than elderflower-infused 1:1 syrup. I wonder what the resulting product would be like if you made up several litres and fed it to the bees until they capped it over. I know you couldn't call it honey, but I reckon it would taste significantly different than just reducing down the syrup yourself due to bee enzymes, being mixed with incoming nectar, etc.

Might be blummin' nice on a crumpet.

If it doesn't poison the bees.


Anyone fancy trying it?
Pick 1 hive, feed 'em this through the June gap, extract along with the summer honey for a nicely tainted batch?

Well you could try with elderflower infused honey ( their own) not syrup but I suspect the passage through the bees’ stomach might remove the nuance?

 

[Wilco]

I'd only do that if using honey rather than sugar. Even then it's a bit of a grey area... Technically honey but not really IMO.

 

[enrico]

I just bought a bottle of honey infused whiskey. Scrummy! Maybe I should feed the bees whiskey and see what happens!

 

[pargyle]

I just bought a bottle of honey infused whiskey. Scrummy! Maybe I should feed the bees whiskey and see what happens!

 

[W0otz]

I just bought a bottle of honey infused whiskey. Scrummy! Maybe I should feed the bees whiskey and see what happens!

A little whisky may have contributed to me starting this thread...

 

[Sam G]

How yummy does (all of) that sound and now I reeeeally want a crumpet...
We have a huge elderflower and when we first started keeping bees I wondered why they never foraged on it when it flowered. After a bit of research I discovered bees aren't really into elderflower and generally dont use it for forage .
This also reminded me of the story about the artificially coloured blue/green honey!

 

[Erichalfbee]

How yummy does (all of) that sound and now I reeeeally want a crumpet...
We have a huge elderflower and when we first started keeping bees I wondered why they never foraged on it when it flowered. After a bit of research I discovered bees aren't really into elderflower and generally dont use it for forage .
This also reminded me of the story about the artificially coloured blue/green honey!

Elderflowers make excellent bubbly. You can make wonderful mead with it but don't overdo the flowers are they can overwhelm the honey. Use a light honey and mature the mead for a few years (it's the only mead I ever made that was half way decent) I tried it after a year and it was disgusting so threw it all away only to find a couple of bottles I'd missed when we moved house and it was gorgeous.
Elderberries are great for keeping colds away in the winter. I make a syrup with Haws and cinnamon

 

[Sam G]

Elderflowers make excellent bubbly. You can make wonderful mead with it but don't overdo the flowers are they can overwhelm the honey. Use a light honey and mature the mead for a few years (it's the only mead I ever made that was half way decent) I tried it after a year and it was disgusting so threw it all away only to find a couple of bottles I'd missed when we moved house and it was gorgeous.
Elderberries are great for keeping colds away in the winter. I make a syrup with Haws and cinnamon

Unfortunately we don't have enough space to store bottles of mead for that long (we'd never find it again ) but I would definitely have a go at a winter remedy!

 

[jenkinsbrynmair]

Elderberries are great for keeping colds away

and elderflower wine is great for treating them, my grandmother would heat some up in a saucepan, add sugar and give it to us at bedtime, it really cleared the cold by morning.
However, if the cold came with a heavy cough it was always rum, honey and hot water.

 

[plain_hunt]

I just bought a bottle of honey infused whiskey. Scrummy! Maybe I should feed the bees whiskey and see what happens!

I wouldn’t mind trying it when your bees have made it!