Remember last year everyone was making fun of my dark motor oil looking honey.:roll: This year (so far) it's been light colored? it probably won't last though, the 3/4 acre of buckweat i put out(here at home) is in full bloom and about 3 ft. tall, the bees are all over it in the mournings. The honey i've taken off of my 30 mile north hives has been almost clear and the comb honey supers were 3/4 capped and snow white:thumbsup:, i took them and put them on top so they wouldn't get tracked up, they should be ready to take off next week.The 4 supers i took off 2 weeks ago in St. Clair, Co. was also light, i was going up to take more off tomorrow but heard they had 7 in. of rain yesterday.:shock: Jack
PS. Guess what,I've had several phone calls and people stopping me in town asking me if i'm going to have anymore of that black looking honey.:roll:
Jack,
My honey is real light this year, took 3 hives off a little over a week ago, got 48 medium frames about 145 lbs of honey.
The hives appeared to have near twice that again in uncapped honey.
I'm going to leave the remaining hives till July ( more fun too work in 100 degree weather.
We got 2 1/4 in. Of rain last night, we really can use it.
We got missed with the rain last knight:sad:, My daughter lives in Aldrich, Mo.and my son lives in Bolivar, Mo (15 min. apart) and they had a bad storm and heavy rain about 3:00am lost some trees and shingles. (they are 40 miles north of me. All the honey i've taken off so far (600#) is light honey, I have 36 hives up north that need robbed, but one of my sweet corn fields is ready and my wife and i bottled honey saturday night (tested 16.5) so i'll be at the Farmers Market Wed. afternoon. The market manager siad customers have been driving him nuts asking when the honeyman will be there.:lol: So it will be Thurs. or Fri. before i get to them.I have a newbee that wants to go with me and learn how to rob them, so i'll have some company. Jack
Jack,
Very interesting about the different color honey this year.
Notice the difference in these two jars of honey. Both hives harvested at the same time but are separated by about 100 yards. They both have a pleasant taste but the dark may be just a little sweeter. The lighter honey come from a hive surrounded by Crimson Clover while the other hive is right on the edge of the clover and very close to the woods. I guess this proves that bees, like us, have different tastes when it comes to food.
Most of my older and regular customers say the darker honey has more nutrients in it and is better for you?? Took an order (last week) for 28 qts. of dark honey when i get it.:roll: Jack
It's just something I thought about and went with. I hate getting jars back that have labels stuck on them, hard as heck to get them off.
It does take a bit more work to tie on the business cards with rafia, but then I figure they now have my business card.
Besides, it looks a little more personal/craftsy done up like this with the customer realizing that every jar has been done individually.
I now have a different card as well since we moved.
AcmeBees got to saying it before me, but it's worth repeating. Your labeling is very attractive. It gives the jars a feel of "class". My mouth is watering.
i like your labels and packaging perry. i do something similar, and tie it on with colored rafia. a little extra work, but customers seem to like the 'personal touch' to the jar, and as ef said adds 'class'. what is the dark honey gathered from?
Originally Posted by bamabww
Jack,Notice the difference in these two jars of honey. Both hives harvested at the same time but are separated by about 100 yards. They both have a pleasant taste but the dark may be just a little sweeter.
My apologies for my negligence. My glasses must have been on crooked when I missed noting your good looking honey. I like the picture on your labels and the clarity of your honey. I'll bet it doesn't last too long on the shelf. It's nice to be able to offer your customers a choice of colors/flavors.
Wyane and Perry, your honey and jars look great, are those pint jars? My late honey will probably be dark, my buckwheat is in full bloom and the neighbors alfalfa field across the road has been in bloom for two weeks (he's behind on getting his hay up). Some sumac is still in bloom, all three of these plants tend to produce dark honey. Jack
Those are 1 kilo jars that I had Jack. I sell in 500 gram and 1 kilo sizes. Up here honey is supposed to be sold by weight only and these jars are designed for it. I used to use mason jars (which I liked because they are so multi-purpose), but then you end up labelling them with the weirdest of weights (1273 grams, etc.)
I don't know of much buckwheat being grown here so I call the light stuff "summer honey" (mostly clover, blackberry, etc.) and the dark stuff "fall honey" (goldenrod, aster).
Interesting....Here too we sell by weight only (metric) and I call my early honey, "Spring Honey" (primarily citrus, light colored) and the late honey "Summer Honey" (assorted wild flowers, dark colored). No fall honey extracted here, whatever my bees collect from August on stays in the hive for winter supplies.
different honey types in New Zealand, for example, have some great colors even white shades. Check this article for more info on different honey colors.
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