# Disgusting honey



## f650cs (Jun 16, 2014)

If the bees used Tree-of-heaven, an evasive tree that is a native of China, the honey might taste bad at first. It is called the tree of heaven because it is such a fast growing tree, growing toward heaven. I would wait about 3 months and then taste the honey again, this type of honey turns it into an excellent honey with age. I am surrounded by these trees that often grow 80' high. My honey tastes fine and in fact, just won first place at the county fair.


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## Brad Bee (Apr 15, 2013)

I got my wife to try it and as soon as she tasted it her nose wrinkled up. This stuff is musty tasting. It's horrble. I've often wondered how anyone could NOT like honey. If all honey tasted like this, I'd never eat any again. I mean it's horrible. Completely unpalatable.


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## gww (Feb 14, 2015)

Brad
I read that queen anns lace smells chocolate-ey and has a grass/weedy after taste. Queen anns lace is about all I have around me in july. I haven't pulled any yet and so don't know but probly will just to see. Some say it has a carrot after taste and most say it makes the honey a bit bitter. I hope not because I have seen my bees working it and it is what I have most around.
I have never tasted it and this is all from reading.
Good luck
gww


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## DeepCreek (Jan 23, 2015)

There's something to be said for "To know the honey, is to know the beekeeper". I certainly wouldn't have bought a quart from an unknown source. A pint perhaps.


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## RayMarler (Jun 18, 2008)

Someone sent me a couple small squeezers from Tennessee, and one of them is quite good, and the other one is the best honey I've ever had the pleasure of experiencing. Sorry to hear of your dissatisfaction of what you received.


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## Kamon A. Reynolds (Apr 15, 2012)

Probably last years golden rod / fall mix. Some fall honey in Tennessee is garbage and should not be sold in my opinion. Also early spring we have wild cherry honey and IT is nasty as well. Typically bees burn it up raising brood though.


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## Brad Bee (Apr 15, 2013)

This is dark honey and not really thick. It's thinner than my spring honey. That's really all I can describe about it. I would try to describe the flavor profile better but I'm not tasting that crap again. 

In hind sight, yes I should have bought a pint. Actually in hind sight, I should have bought any. LOL

With it being an Amish beek, I am not suggesting it's been adulterated in any way. I figure they are pretty straight up folks.


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## wertzsteve (Dec 28, 2015)

I hate buckwheat honey its dark but my wife loves it


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## Vance G (Jan 6, 2011)

I got some tobacco honey in the seventies and it was nasty inedible. Leafy spurge is terrible and dark green. I got more flow from canada thistle than I wanted and it makes water white alfalfa look lke you scraped it off the floor. Gives it a dirty looking tint. Out in western Washington state I got some road tar they always call "wildflower" I got a quart of raspberry,blueberryand blackberry honey that is as good as honey gets. Its always an adventure buying and tasting other regions honey.


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## beemandan (Dec 5, 2005)

Brad Bee said:


> This is dark honey and not really thick.


Mobil 1, 5w30....used.


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## Brad Bee (Apr 15, 2013)

beemandan said:


> Mobil 1, 5w30....used.


That would probably taste better.


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## AR1 (Feb 5, 2017)

We have lots of Queen Anne's Lace, and I have never once seen a honeybee on it, even growing 5 feet from the hive. Lots of tiny pollinators seem to like it.


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## Oldtimer (Jul 4, 2010)

Sometimes strong to bad tasting honeys can be put to other uses such as part of a marinade for your steak before your barbeque, or your venison before you smoke it, and that taste you didn't like works in the other setting pretty good. Or maybe sparkling water, a spoon of your honey, and some lemon juice, chilled, excellent on a hot day.


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## gww (Feb 14, 2015)

AR1


> We have lots of Queen Anne's Lace, and I have never once seen a honeybee on it, even growing 5 feet from the hive. Lots of tiny pollinators seem to like it.


This is only my second year but I have seen the bees work it both years. I have seen more bees on queen anns lace then on the cosmos I planted. I have only seen two bees the whole summer on the cosmos. 

I have come to the conclusion that in july when that is all that is around, the bees like pumkin, cucumber zukini and queen anns lace in that order.
Cheers
gww


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## Kenww (Apr 14, 2013)

Queen Anns Lace has been the most common flower here for months. I hope my honey doesn't taste bad. I haven't seen them on it much though! Actually, I haven't known for sure what theyve been on all year. They aren't foraging very close to home. They've done great though.


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## CLSranch (May 15, 2017)

I have a feral hive in my yard and another feral hive 2 miles away. I think they just moved in. No hives of my own. I haven't seen but one honey bee on my property all year. I have a variety of planted flowers in the yard, wild flowers in the pasture (and every where for miles) and 100 yds of plum trees on the back fence.


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## ShrekVa (Jan 13, 2011)

Tennessee's Bees LLC said:


> Some fall honey in Tennessee is garbage and should not be sold in my opinion.


Since moving to west TN I have noticed the fall honey here is strong, and definitely not the best flavor. Seems a lot of people around here like it well enough. I blend it to mellow it out. I wouldn't call it garbage, but it is strong flavored for sure.


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## tnfiddler (May 11, 2014)

I sent two squeeze bottles to San Jose last week from Tennessee. Wonder if it's mine?


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## tnfiddler (May 11, 2014)

tnfiddler said:


> I sent two squeeze bottles to San Jose last week from Tennessee. Wonder if it's mine?


Someone sent me a couple small squeezers from Tennessee, and one of them is quite good, and the other one is the best honey I've ever had the pleasure of experiencing. Sorry to hear of your dissatisfaction of what you received.


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## DanielD (Jul 21, 2012)

Brad Bee said:


> With it being an Amish beek, I am not suggesting it's been adulterated in any way. I figure they are pretty straight up folks.


They are people too and you can find bad eggs in any group of people. It's probably just a nectar source that tastes bad to most people but they think it's great, don't care that it tastes bad, or didn't taste it.


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## Knobs (Sep 20, 2014)

I wonder if the beekeeper you bought it from took it off the hive real early in the year. It sounds like black Cherry honey. If its mixed with other honeys (clover, poplar, etc.) t okay but if you get it plain boy its bad.


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## Brad Bee (Apr 15, 2013)

We have a large amount of wild cherry trees here. If I can rememember I'll taste some of the nectar next spring and see if that's the culprit.

Anyone want a quart of (floor) grate tasting honey?


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## GSkip (Dec 28, 2014)

My brother in law learned a lesson in buying honey recently. He has a vegetable stand where he also sells honey. He purchased a five gallon pail from a local beeks. When he stared bottling he discovered it had a really bad after taste and was unfit to sell. After some investigating he found out it had been stored in a five gallon pail which originally held hydraulic fluid. Lesson learned buy from folks you know. He couldn't get his money back which was stupid for this guy. Now the words out on him and he will have a hard time selling his honey next year plus the inspector will be checking his operation.


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## Riskybizz (Mar 12, 2010)

From your description it could very well be honeydew. If you've ever tasted honeydew you won't soon forget it.


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## ShrekVa (Jan 13, 2011)

Smart weed


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## Lburou (May 13, 2012)

ShrekVa said:


> Smart weed


I sure could use some of that!


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## westtnbeekeeper (Oct 26, 2015)

Brad Bee said:


> With it being an Amish beek, I am not suggesting it's been adulterated in any way.


I just missed you. I was there just last Tuesday. Picked up 10 mediums, 5 deeps and two complete nucs but thankfully none of the aforementioned "Rank" honey. Mostly bean fields there with some patches of woods from what I saw. I wonder what it could have been. I have heard bitter weed would yield something nasty but I have never experienced like that from my bunch. The goldenrod was fine to me although the curing out process was pretty foul.


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## spencer (Dec 7, 2004)

GSkip said:


> My brother in law learned a lesson in buying honey recently. He has a vegetable stand where he also sells honey. He purchased a five gallon pail from a local beeks. When he stared bottling he discovered it had a really bad after taste and was unfit to sell. After some investigating he found out it had been stored in a five gallon pail which originally held hydraulic fluid. Lesson learned buy from folks you know. He couldn't get his money back which was stupid for this guy. Now the words out on him and he will have a hard time selling his honey next year plus the inspector will be checking his operation.


That's just gross!

I wonder if the honey the OP got was extracted and placed in a 5 gallon bucket that had chocolate frosting used for doughnuts.


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## sandmtn (Jul 7, 2016)

Bradbee, Did the honey you bought look like this? 









I bought this jar up there on Aug 8th. IMO wasn't the best but not like you are describing either. I'm thinking the honey you bought was replaced by this shortly after you were there.


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## Live Oak (Oct 11, 2008)

I have seen that very honey for sale. I will have to ask the seller where he got it.


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## merdoc (May 4, 2010)

I bought a jar once from my local grocery taste ok at first then a nasty after taste.Figured out it was blended with goldenrod I wont buy that brand anymore.I tried alfalfa dutch boy brand from penn state best honey I ever had.


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## Live Oak (Oct 11, 2008)

Brad Bee, today I stopped by the place you purchased your honey. It was in fact the same honey I purchased as well. I sampled another jar which is the latest extraction of honey and it had a much better smell and taste. What I think may have happened was that the honey you and I purchased (at least the jar I purchased) had a moderately strong aroma of Bee Go or Honey Robber (aka butyric acid) from being harvested. My jar had an odd taste but not as bad as yours so I gave it to the wife to cook with. Butyric Acid I suspect can negatively flavor the honey. If you just let the jar set for a few hours with the lid off, the putrid smell will evaporate off. The honey I purchased today smelled MUCH better.......almost a grape aroma and tasted MUCH better. 

The Amish man you purchased your honey from and I had a good chuckle as I showed him this thread on my smart phone. I am sure if you mention this to him the next time you visit with him, he will make things right as he did feel bad that you were not satisfied with the product he sold you.


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