Mustard honey

[enrico]

I have an acre of mixed borage and mustard planted by a friendly farmer near to me. Never had mustard honey before. I gather, like OSR, it crystallises quickly and has to be taken off immediately after capping. Any one got any experience? Especially if mixed with borage!!!
E

 

[Ian123]

great he’s planted it but not sure it’s the mix I would have chosen. Unless both finish at the same time you could have borage mixing with the setting mustard, and it won’t take much mustard nectar/honey to set off the rest of the crop. It is only an acre but both are good producers.

 

[boywonder]

My colonies went absolutely nuts for the white mustard over a period of a couple of weeks mid-July last year. The farmer had planted it to turn into the soil as a green manure. Walking through the field, the sound of the bees was like a jumbo jet engine. As such, it ended up forming a large part of my summer honey (I forget the exact percentage, but, in the CEH analysis, it was the 3rd most prevalent taxa, after bramble and white clover). Experiences ... Well it caused my honey to set bl**dy quickly. I extracted early August, and probably 15 percent was already crystallised in the frames. The honey, when it came off, had a distinct, not unpleasant 'heat' from the mustard, but that soon faded. I jarred it immediately, and it set within a week. That said, it tasted rather lovely... as does all my honey ;-) I'm rather relaxed about what my bees gorge on - it's all part of the fun! This year, for example, I've had my first encounter with dandelion honey. That, incidentally smells rank, tastes amazing, and seems to darken and crystalise quickly. The mustard, as Ian says, is similar to OSR. Indeed, I think it is closely related.

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[Beersmith]

I sow various sorts of mustard in patches on my allotment as a green manure. They are all members of the brassica family. I have to keep records to allow crop rotation and avoid a build up of brassica diseases. So more than likely will share some features with OSR.

That said - and this is purely a personal observation - I think some varieties of OSR crystallises only slowly.

As time passed please let us know what happens!

 

[Gilberdyke John]

My colonies went absolutely nuts for the white mustard over a period of a couple of weeks mid-July last year. The farmer had planted it to turn into the soil as a green manure. Walking through the field, the sound of the bees was like a jumbo jet engine. As such, it ended up forming a large part of my summer honey (I forget the exact percentage, but, in the CEH analysis, it was the 3rd most prevalent taxa, after bramble and white clover). Experiences ... Well it caused my honey to set bl**dy quickly. I extracted early August, and probably 15 percent was already crystallised in the frames. The honey, when it came off, had a distinct, not unpleasant 'heat' from the mustard, but that soon faded. I jarred it immediately, and it set within a week. That said, it tasted rather lovely... as does all my honey ;-) I'm rather relaxed about what my bees gorge on - it's all part of the fun! This year, for example, I've had my first encounter with dandelion honey. That, incidentally smells rank, tastes amazing, and seems to darken and crystalise quickly. The mustard, as Ian says, is similar to OSR. Indeed, I think it is closely related.

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You've just created a mental image of you standing in front of the hives holding up signs such as "today you must forage on field beans ladies"

 

[enrico]

It is an acre field apparently owned by a nature preservation group who I never actually met. I manage to miss them every time they are planting it. The borage I think is seed from last year's crop and this year's crop is mustard! Their aim is to help pollinaters.
E

 

[Murox]

Thats a useful acre for you; donate them some seed.

 

[Ian123]

Yes but just donate some borage!!