Smokey honey

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kazmcc

Queen Bee
Joined
Jul 9, 2010
Messages
3,147
Reaction score
3
Location
Longsight, Manchester, UK
Hive Type
National
Number of Hives
None, although I have my eye on one ( Just don't tell Dusty ;) )
I was kindly given a little pot of honey from the colony that is on the same allotment as ours. It tastes very smokey. We don't use a smoker ( as yet ), is this inevitable, or are there ways of being able to use the smoker without it tainting the honey? Or could it be nothing to do with the use of a smoker and maybe what's available for forage, maybe some plant that tastes similar.
 
Thats what can happen when using too much smoke little smoke is better I have seen some beeks sending clouds of smoke into a hive
 
Erm, probably a little too strong for me....I sound really ungrateful don't I, but I would like to avoid that if I can for ours. The kids liked it so it won't go unused, just a bit strong for my taste, that's all.

Jeez, I've just noticed I've passed my 1000th post! My I can talk can't I! :D
 
Kaz that's a lot of posts- you'll be up there with Admin, RAB, Poly Hive, Finman etc. by Christmas at this rate!



Ben P
 
Might I suggest that you'd have to seriously go it with the smoker to flavour the honey, to the point where you'd be lucky to have any bees left. I'd have thought it's much more likely to be what they've been foraging on- possibly a bit of honeydew in there?
 
I fell into that trap in my first or second year. OSR taken off frame by frame, for fear of crystallisation. Used smoke to clear the bees and had to feed the honey back for reprocessing. Didn't look at all off, but was with taste. Was oK when re-refined by the bees (or that and dilution with an awful lot more OSR honey).

Simple effective use of clearing boards should avoid any risk of this.

Regards, RAB
 
I suppose if you kept blasting it into the super, the uncapped honey would get tainted. I know they are smoked bees. Just shows how easy it is to taint the honey by what you do with the colony. Good lesson, learned early :)
 
Might I suggest that you'd have to seriously go it with the smoker to flavour the honey, to the point where you'd be lucky to have any bees left. I'd have thought it's much more likely to be what they've been foraging on- possibly a bit of honeydew in there?

Or maybe some...

..CREOSOTE!
 
3 years ago Thornes were selling honey local to me that tasted of smoke.
Produce of a large local beefarmer,I have no idea if it was the smoker that caused the taste or not though.
 
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I noticed a long time ago that smoking bees away from supers make the honey taste smoke. If you use cones, needle, grass and stuff which makes a thick white smoke, its is tar and it condensated onto cappings. When you take the capping honey, it has a smoke aroma.

That is why I have warned here about using certain stuffs n the smoker.

With clearing board you avoid the smoke. If the weather is cold, method does not work well.

Shaking is a good method. Lift off a super. Wait 15 minutes and bees get nervous and they suck themselves full of honey.
Then they drop like ripe fruits from the frame by shaking.
 
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I can't say I have ever noticed smoke contaminating honey though I always use hessian where poss, and do not smoke bees down but use clearer boards as per other threads.

I am not saying it is not possible just that I have not noticed it in my own.

Cresote contamination though is in a class of it's own and I have tasted contaminated comb honey and a, spat it out pdq, and b, had to rinse my mouth out.

PH
 
Kaz that's a lot of posts- you'll be up there with Admin, RAB, Poly Hive, Finman etc. by Christmas at this rate!



Ben P

Yeah Ben, the problem is, people might think I actually know something :biggrinjester:

Oh, and might I suggest it would not be wise to use the C word around me from now on, I am trying to overcome the trauma of that period.....I still have flashbacks :p

Luckily, we will have our new clean hive for spring so no contamination of the C word with any luck. Do you think we might have to change our frames? The bees are keeping what they've made so far, poor things, and we will be popping a feeder on in the next week. Give them something a little less potent. Do you think it will bother the bees? Everything up there was capped by the time he let loose with his brush.
 
Friend of mine smoked hers so much on the first time she took the honey that not only did it smell and taste of smoke but it also had little black bits in it!! Now that is seriously smoked honey!

You'd have to be seriously concerned about your bees being around you to smoke them so hard wouldn't you? I mean, I am terrified still ( don't tell our group :blush5: ) but we don't use anything. I had what looked like a glove of bees on my hands the other day, which I did not like at all, while removing strips. I just shook them off when I could but they just came back lol :ack2: At one point I was holding up the super up so our mentor could have a look at that play cup I'd spotted without disturbing the bees in the super, and I was covered. I just pray it'll be over soon so I can have a good shudder and a well deserved cig.

The group tell me it isn't as bad as I make out but it is in my head. I feel like I am a walking brood frame :p
 
kazmcc,

and a well deserved cig.

Now, they are not good for bees! Better to give them up now!

You haven't had someone lacing your gloves with queen pheromone, have you?

Or maybe it was the honey, from taking apart the hive, that they were trying to retrieve?

As long as they are not stinging don't be alarmed, it just shows they are docile enough to be handled with ease, so stop worrying and enjoy them.

Regards, RAB
 
kazmcc,

and a well deserved cig.

Now, they are not good for bees! Better to give them up now!

You haven't had someone lacing your gloves with queen pheromone, have you?

Or maybe it was the honey, from taking apart the hive, that they were trying to retrieve?

As long as they are not stinging don't be alarmed, it just shows they are docile enough to be handled with ease, so stop worrying and enjoy them.

Regards, RAB

Thanks Rab, I think in my head there were more than there probably were to be honest, although they are very docile and I really enjoy tending them, I think I still have a little part of me that is fearful. I overcame it so quickly and in such short bursts, it has only been since the middle of July that I was a mess after visiting my first hive, but also hooked for some odd reason. I really enjoy these bees, and they are a good colony to learn with as they are very forgiving. I've not had much experience of other colonies though, but that will come. Next year I will see the difference in temperament between colonies when we get our 2nd.
 
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