Honey

[rockridgecattle]

Named honey....
...depending on the flowers in bloom,
...depending on extracting that source before another starts
...depending if they are in certain fields
...taste

Color/grading...
...honey has a standardized grading system which depends on color, clarity and moisture content. The reason is for imports. As honey is imported by some business, a set standard helps when importing. It also help when setting guidelines for what we import.

In Canada there is a push to for extraction standards. This measure is in place for two reasons. Food health safety and traciblity, and to expect other countries to meet our standards. How can we import honey based on guidelines if we ourselves have none. Gone are the days when you could extract honey for sale in your garage or shop. Bee maid honey requires that all of their co-op members who ship honey to Beemaid be federally inspected. Follow set standards and guidelines for honey production, bio security for diseases and antibiotic and mote treatments to ensure quality honey.

 

[Fire Sweep Ranch]

When I taught high school ag, We covered a section on bees and pollination. I would bake fresh bread the night before and tear it into small chunks. I bought honey the week before in several different flavors, but usually apple blossom, orange blossom, clover, sage, and what ever else I could find locally (when we lived in CA). I would put a label over each jar, so the students could not see they variety. I would assign it a letter, and put a plate of bread pieces in front of the jar, all on the table. The students were given a worksheet and had to sample every type and evaluate it on color, smell and taste, then try to match it to types that were listed. Almost always, the students would guess the citrus and apple, but the others they would mix up. It was a fun learning experience that they always looked forward to, what student does not like free food???
My favorite was the Orange.

 

[slick4591]

On a warm winter day honey bees swarm the chicken feed in my pens. Hmmm...feed honey?

 

[Williamsv]

Fire Sweep Ranch, that honey tasting activity was a great learning experience. When I taught , we had AG Day every spring and the lady from our local aviary would bring honey for the students to taste. Most had never tasted any.
By the way, all this talk about honey and I still have not opened my orange blossom. I will before the day is over. I am going now and set it on the bar so I can see it.

 

[wacocowboy]

When I taught high school ag, We covered a section on bees and pollination. I would bake fresh bread the night before and tear it into small chunks. I bought honey the week before in several different flavors, but usually apple blossom, orange blossom, clover, sage, and what ever else I could find locally (when we lived in CA). I would put a label over each jar, so the students could not see they variety. I would assign it a letter, and put a plate of bread pieces in front of the jar, all on the table. The students were given a worksheet and had to sample every type and evaluate it on color, smell and taste, then try to match it to types that were listed. Almost always, the students would guess the citrus and apple, but the others they would mix up. It was a fun learning experience that they always looked forward to, what student does not like free food???
My favorite was the Orange.

I wish you were my teacher honey and home made fresh bread don't get much better than that.

 

[cow pollinater]

On a warm winter day honey bees swarm the chicken feed in my pens. Hmmm...feed honey?

They're probably collecting the dust from the feed in place of pollen.

 

[cow pollinater]

I'm skeptical about named honey. How does anybody know where the bees have been?

I agree, maybe the hives are placed in close proximity to certain plants in bloom?

Bees are all about efficiency so when there is a major flow on they work it until it's done. When you place hives for pollination you wait for about ten percent bloom and then put the hives right next to it. The scout bees will find that bloom and they'll work there until it's over. If you place them to early and they scout out another source they'll work whichever source is better for THEM but either way they won't fly further than they have to to meet their needs. In the case of something like citrus honey about the only other nectar source that they'll still work during the citrus bloom is filleree and that is mostly done by citrus bloom most years and is still fantastic honey.

 

[jedstivers]

On a warm winter day honey bees swarm the chicken feed in my pens. Hmmm...feed honey?

They're probably collecting the dust from the feed in place of pollen.

What do they do with the dust?

 

[slick4591]

My guess was there was a little sweetener in the binder of the pellets. When we have blooms they don't know the feed exists. Dust might make sense tho.