Honey source question

[LeaBees]

Hi, We took some frames off hives this year (late May) which I assume would be spring honey. Variation in colours and flavour has always been noted but this year the honey is the palest and most subtle in flavour we've had in 4 years, but what is surprising is it is setting reasonably quickly (week or two) with a very fine crystal structure. It's almost like natural soft set. Can anyone suggest the flora that could/would produce this?

 

[user 11159]

oilseed rape ..maybe...

 

[LeaBees]

oilseed rape ..maybe...

I'd thought that but no crop within 2 miles of us that I know of.. plus I heard oilseed sets rock hard - this is soft and almost spreadable.

 

[user 11159]

my bees are ..was on top of osr.not all set rock hard .but spreadable..

 

[enrico]

Anything in the brassica family which includes osr, and many similar types. We have something known as bargemans cabbage which grows along our rivers. Sets like a fudge.

 

[jenkinsbrynmair]

I'd thought that but no crop within 2 miles of us that I know of.. plus I heard oilseed sets rock hard - this is soft and almost spreadable.

bees will fly two miles or more if they discover a ready source of something like OSR, but with it being that distance away it may be diluted with something else. I would suggest clover which can give a very light honey but a bit early for that and it doesn't set very quickly.

 

[pargyle]

I'd thought that but no crop within 2 miles of us that I know of.. plus I heard oilseed sets rock hard - this is soft and almost spreadable.

One of the things we should do as beekeepers is be aware of what there is in flower around our apiaries ... without this knowledge you are just guessing what your honey started out as. If it was April and May and you are confident that there was no OSR then the best guess is tree blossom ... sycamore, hawthorn, fruit trees - perhaps mixed with other spring forage ?

 

[enrico]

One of the things we should do as beekeepers is be aware of what there is in flower around our apiaries ... without this knowledge you are just guessing what your honey started out as. If it was April and May and you are confident that there was no OSR then the best guess is tree blossom ... sycamore, hawthorn, fruit trees - perhaps mixed with other spring forage ?

I agree. Far more of our nectar comes from trees than we realise. A thousand flowers on a tree and just a few in the garden. I know where I would go.