Gloopy honey, any ideas what it is?

[m100]

Did some extracting today from a couple of supers off one hive and there were two distinct types of honey, the light coloured and runny stuff that extracted easily and a few frames a bit darker with extremely gloopy honey that was pain to remove - most did come out (radial extractor) but some is still in the comb.

The nearest OSR is about 2.5 miles away, I'm surrounded by deciduous woodland and there is a bit of heathland with heather half a mile away but not a huge area, the rest is just urban gardens.

There is no evidence of crystalisation and the water content (as measured in bulk) is about 18% the same as the gloopy honey left in the frames.

Any guesses to what it is?

 

[wightbees]

Being new it's only a guess, but here goes Heather.
Just sounds like it ,but there. i'll go and hide now

 

[RoofTops]

Darker might be beans. Bell heather honey is supposed to be port coloured but I haven't experienced it. My bees are going wild on formium or New Zealand Flax at the moment but I have no idea what colour the honey will be.
In other words it could be almost anything - can you give us a clue as to what might be growing locally?

 

[Poly Hive]

Bell is indeed port wine and proper heather will not extract radially.

PH

 

[victor meldrew]

I've had early Heather over the top of blossom honey and it is the divil hisself to extract .
You needn't be near the moors! railway cuttings have their share of ling around here !!

John Wilkinson

 

[Midland Beek]

Chestnut?

 

[m100]

Trees nearby are mainly Horse Chestnut, Lime, Willow, Hazel, Hawthorn, Oak. Nothing really obvious in flower as everywhere is green. It's too early for balsam at 450ft up so urban gardens are the only real obvious forage.

As I said previously OSR 2.5 miles away but it it flowered many weeks ago and there are no signs of crystalisation, heather is an isolated patch of about a couple of acres but it's been there for years and I've never had anything from it, water content seems way too low for heather and it did eventually come out of the comb without agitation which I'm led to believe heather wouldn't. The gloopy honey also had lots of big air bubbles in it when it was part way out of the comb.

As for other nearby forage, there is a bit of wheat and barley in the closest fields and lots of grass on the golf courses In the woods there is willow herb, brambles and gorse, on the field margins a few poppies. There could be beans around but I've not seen them. Colourwise the honey I would still class as light

Pollen observed recently is mainly bramble, bit of willow herb, with some lemon yellow which I haven't seen before and can't place, previously seen pollen over the past few months, Dandelion, Horse Chestnut, Willow and Hazel.




I had extracted all the honey from some combs yet those with the gloopy stuff were near full causing balance problems with the extractor