Two hives, two different honeys!

[thedozzer]

We have two hives that are only about 2 ft from each other, but have produced two completely different honeys.

The yellow hive we took 2 supers off tastes similar to the last batch, with a nice floral taste. normal rich honey colour and about 18%
But the green hive we only took one super off is much lighter and has a distinctly minty taste! and less than 17% why would two hives with access to the same area produce such different honey??
the only thing we can think of is that the yellow hive has been filling its supers for longer where as the green hive took a while to re-queen and get going.

We think the minty taste could be lime as there are about 50+ trees near by.

has anyone had bees in the same place but produce different honey?

 

[Erichalfbee]

has anyone had bees in the same place but produce different honey?

Yes quite often, and in frames in the same super too
I sometimes notice bees from hives next to each other are flying in opposite directions.

 

[Millet]

Yes quite often, and in frames in the same super too
I sometimes notice bees from hives next to each other are flying in opposite directions.

Snap and good observation..i bet most will not notice such..

 

[enrico]

I often think it is a pity we mix boxes as different supers can produce different honeys.
E

 

[thedozzer]

Yes quite often, and in frames in the same super too
I sometimes notice bees from hives next to each other are flying in opposite directions.

ours have been doing that, the green hive has been crossing over the yellow hives flight path some days!

I often think it is a pity we mix boxes as different supers can produce different honeys.
E

We worked out after our first extraction that one super is about one 10ltr bucket, so that whats we have been using so we cant try and jar each separately.

will be interesting to see if they are a different colour when settled too?
its an exciting new lesson every day with bees

 

[Erichalfbee]

We worked out after our first extraction that one super is about one 10ltr bucket, so that whats we have been using so we cant try and jar each separately.

will be interesting to see if they are a different colour when settled too?
its an exciting new lesson every day with bees

I ran out of 30litre buckets last year but had some 15litre ones.
I've opened three today with the notion of soft setting them, mixed.
They all need melting, of course but are different colours and smells so I'm in a quandary.
I need to jar them for Conwy Honey Fair but I'm jolly well not having a table full of tasters

 

[thedozzer]

I ran out of 30litre buckets last year but had some 15litre ones.
I've opened three today with the notion of soft setting them, mixed.
They all need melting, of course but are different colours and smells so I'm in a quandary.
I need to jar them for Conwy Honey Fair but I'm jolly well not having a table full of tasters

it would be a shame after your girls have gone to all that trouble of collecting all those different tastes & smells to just go and mix them all together.
it would be like mixing lots of different perfumes together and ending up with just Smell!

Sorry im just enthusiastic at how different the taste was, it will wear of in a week or two

 

[Millet]

I often think it is a pity we mix boxes as different supers can produce different honeys.
E

Different super frames can produce different honey in each box..however my preferred method is to extract each super into a 10ltr bucket which gives 28/29lb of honey in each bucket..that way i know what came from where and who and how it turned out..

 

[Newbeeneil]

I ran out of 30litre buckets last year but had some 15litre ones.
I've opened three today with the notion of soft setting them, mixed.
They all need melting, of course but are different colours and smells so I'm in a quandary.
I need to jar them for Conwy Honey Fair but I'm jolly well not having a table full of tasters

30 litre buckets!
I certainly don't want to meet you in a dark alley if you lift them!

 

[Beefriendly]

We think the minty taste could be lime as there are about 50+ trees near by.

That is one of the tasting notes for Lime honey.
Jealous.
I have about 7 or 8 very old mature lime trees near me and never a drop

 

[Erichalfbee]

30 litre buckets!
I certainly don't want to meet you in a dark alley if you lift them!

Oh dear
pounds for litres

 

[Clemcook]

I've not concidered trying different frames inderviduarly, I will now.

Do you ever combine supers from different hives?

 

[enrico]

I've not concidered trying different frames inderviduarly, I will now.

Do you ever combine supers from different hives?

Yes frequently, for ease of extraction but!!!!!!!
In a perfect world I wouldn't
E

 

[charlievictorbravo]

Most of the previous posters are making the case for a Flow Hive - the Australian invention that allows the beekeeper to take honey from the Flow Super but one super frame at a time. The honey isn't flung through the air inside a spinner so no volatile aromatics are lost - the honey smells and tastes different on each frame.

Last year at our association extraction meeting, we had a new member helping to remove the cappings. She started tasting the honey on her gloves after each frame and announced what it tasted like - "lemon", 'minty", "jasmine" , etc. Pretty soon experienced beekeepers were over at the uncapping table having a sly taste and you know, she was right - every frame tasted different but we tend not to taste it at that stage - we wait 'til it's been extracted and blended with the honey from all the other frames.

If you're doing an extraction soon, have a small taste of the honey from each frame and see if you can confirm that each frame's honey tastes different to its neighbour's.

CVB

 

[enrico]

So here is an interesting thought. We know a bee will tend to stick to stick to one flower on forage. When it returns are the flowers separated I to different cells or areas to help with evaporation. Ie. Does borage go in one cell and phacelia in another!!
E

 

[Erichalfbee]

So here is an interesting thought. We know a bee will tend to stick to stick to one flower on forage. When it returns are the flowers separated I to different cells or areas to help with evaporation. Ie. Does borage go in one cell and phacelia in another!!
E

No?
Foragers hand their nectar over to house bees and I’m sure that nectar gets processed by more than one bee before it’s put in cells.
Pollen, on the other hand, is packed into cells by the bees that collected it.

 

[enrico]

No?
Foragers hand their nectar over to house bees and I’m sure that nectar gets processed by more than one bee before it’s put in cells.
Pollen, on the other hand, is packed into cells by the bees that collected it.

Not doubting you but how can ... You be sure.... Maybe the bees can tell similar nectars and store it in a similar area. Why else would a single bee concentrate so much on one flower on a single flight. It would be beneficial for it to mix nectars....
E

 

[Erichalfbee]

Not doubting you but how can ... You be sure.... Maybe the bees can tell similar nectars and store it in a similar area. Why else would a single bee concentrate so much on one flower on a single flight. It would be beneficial for it to mix nectars....
E

Just quoting Seeley
As for finding a nectar source and using it exclusively till that source was exhausted, might it not minimise effort and maximise yield?

 

[BernardBlack]

Won’t there be a number of different honey tastes on one single frame?

 

[enrico]

Just quoting Seeley
As for finding a nectar source and using it exclusively till that source was exhausted, might it not minimise effort and maximise yield?

On a crop maybe, but when you see them in the garden they spend ages fnding another plant the same as the one they started on. They don't just flit between different species.
It was the comment about different frames having different tastes that made me ponder the possibility! Thanks
E