I don't like honey!

[Snowpenguin]

I don't like honey but I am planning to keep bees simply because I am concerned about the plight of bees. I want to know if I can keep bees and leave the honey in the supers for them to love on over the winter rather than feed them artificial products. Has anyone done this please?

 

[Poly Hive]

Quite a common practice leaving the honey on.

However you may find you quite like your own.

PH

 

[Brosville]

It's de rigeur amongst "natural beekeepers" - I wouldn't dream of nicking all their honey and feeding an inferior substitute, suggest you look at top bar beekeeping where the bees come first!

 

[steve1958]

My wife has never liked Honey.
However
At the end of last season when I was extracting some of the honey
she couldnt resist having a little taste.

Result: She liked it

Definately a different and a much nicer taste to the stuff they sell in the shop.

 

[Midland Beek]

I am not keen on honey at all. I plan not to do any extracting in the forseable future. I am much more into handling bees as opposed to treading honey around my kitchen and home.

 

[victor meldrew]

Firstly you can't keep bees in a perfectly natural way! the word 'keep' nullifies that.
Your colonies will produce honey in excess of their requirements year on year !. What do you do when you have a surfeit of honey in the hive ? , queenie has nowhere to lay . do you use a queen excluder and pile on the supers ? Then what ?. Don't use a QX and let her run throughout the hive ? If so, soon you'll have hive + supers bursting with bees and brood . How then do you control swarming ? .'Control' another word that doesn't sit well with the leave alone ethic !. Swarm control is essential , otherwise ,the public will soon regard the honeybee as a nuisance to be eradicated rather than saved.
Beekeeping is an occupation requiring skill observation , total commitment and a 'Love' of bees .
Laudable though it be to wish to help the honey bee. (and I wish you every success ), please be aware that , by keeping bees, you are in no way helping the bee to re-establish itself in the wild (an ideal situation), the advent of the varroa has seen to that.
By keeping bees you are artificially sustaining a bee population for propagation of crops, garden flowers etc, until a cure for and an answer to the problems faced by the bees is found (or occurs naturally).
Should you press on with your venture, I'm sure you will soon find that your circle of friends will increase and most of them will love honey .

John Wilkinson

 

[Poly Hive]

I was at a large show and selling honey via tastes.

14 consecutive customers said no thanks I don't like honey to which I replied well you are telling me yo don't like the ones you have tried so far. Try this...

14 sales....

PH

 

[SixFooter]

I hate to say it, but I dont like honey either. Not yet had any of my own though.

 

[Tom Bick]

No comparison to bought honey from supermarkets to the honey your bees will produce

 

[crazy_bull]

I'm not a massive fan of honey, but that doesn't stop me producing it for those that are.

 

[Haughton Honey]

It's quite common to remove some frames of stores for extraction/sale and leave a great deal for your own bees to overwinter on....thereby having the best of both worlds.

 

[Ely]

I like a big dollop of honey in tea, or a big spoonful on its own, especially when i have a cold or sore throat, much better than any losenge. I think it is rubbish on bread.

 

[Snowpenguin]

Thank you for that, barefoot looks just the site for me

 

[victor meldrew]

Thank you for that, barefoot looks just the site for me

Why am I not surprised .

John Wilkinson

 

[Poly Hive]

LOL

I thought it but resisted...

PH

 

[Cazza]

Hi Snowpenguin and best of luck with whichever method you choose.

If you don't like honey, train yourself to like it. Eat large quantities for several days. It works for me. I now like olives, dark chocolate, mustard, whiskey..... and honey.
Cazza

 

[Ely]

Hi Snowpenguin and best of luck with whichever method you choose.

If you don't like honey, train yourself to like it. Eat large quantities for several days. It works for me. I now like olives, dark chocolate, mustard, whiskey..... and honey.
Cazza

Olives Dark chocolate mustard whiskey honey

 

[Midland Beek]

And that OSR cack ... too much formaldehyde.

 

[Heather]

Be wary of leaving just their stores for their winter feed.. if they have collected ivy. A long winter, little water, they would starve to death with the stores they collected, It is too crystallised for them to break down- they may starve- with lots of capped honey nearby!.
Best of all worlds. Extract some- sell to neighbours,recoup some dosh, leave some stores for them, and ALSO feed them a thick syrup for them to store,- they can feed better on that.

 

[oliver90owner]

Heather,

It is too crystallised for them to break down

Is there documented evidence of this, not just anecdotal?

All of my colonies collected their own stores last autumn. I lost one colony which had plenty of stores, was very strong and had minimal varroa. No signs of damp, dysentry or other malady (not checked for nosema ceranae). So a bit of a mystery, that one.

I have noticed that my bees are still taking in large amounts of water, so still using up stores for feeding the larvae. Those stores will be about 18% water whether it is ivy or other. Fondant is, what, 14% moisture?

How much do they actually need to metabolise in the depths of winter? Perhaps a little damp on the outer frames is not such a bad thing after all?

Hardness may be a factor but the bees have been collecting thir own stores for millenia, so they should by now know what is good for them or they would have died out long ago? Perhaps it is just too many genes from bees of 'warmer climate' descent?

Regards, RAB