# golden rod honey



## Ueli Hoffmann (Jan 26, 2011)

I have customers who ask specifically for goldenrod honey. They say it is absolutely their favorite honey.


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## Davebcrzy (Mar 12, 2011)

The bees in my hives must be very peculiar. I know bees are supposed to like goldenrod. The past two summers I have had three hives in a field full of goldenrod. There is goldenrod within two feet of the hive. I have never seen a bee on the stuff. I have looked randomly over the field and see no bees. And the same with privet hedge. I have a hive surrounded by it and I have yet to see a bee on it. Does anyone else have this with their bees?

Dave


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## bradkeskey (Jun 18, 2009)

Here in Michigan it's a late/last bloom and my bees tear it up. We have a bunch of it in the ditches/fields and I always see honey bees and bumble bees into it. As they ripen it, it DEFINITELY has a smell, I had 7 hives last year in my back yard, and I could smell them 40-50 yards away. Stinky socks smell, delicious honey, mine has always been quite dark and delicious!

Brad


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## Davebcrzy (Mar 12, 2011)

thanks bradkeskey for your response. Here in NW Mississippi it is late to bloom as well. I am puzzled as to why my bees do not work it. I guess they just want to be different, lol

Dave


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## Laurence Hope (Aug 24, 2005)

I dislike the smell of it, but I really like the flavors in it. Starts off kind of lemony, then morphs into a buttery taste and finish. Maybe there are differences in goldenrod from place to place, but what I have had from New York is really good.


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## carbide (Nov 21, 2004)

I've read that there are about 100 different varieties of goldenrod. I've identified at least 5 different varieties on my 20 acres in the fall. Some of the varieties bloom at the same time, while others bloom slightly ahead of or slightly behind the majority.

I have no evidence of this, but I believe that the bees may be more willing to obtain nectar from one variety than some other. It may be that the nectar sweetness or quantity depends on the particular variety of goldenrod growing in an area. This may also explain why I personally like the smell of goldenrod "cooking" in my beehives. Then again, it may just be my olfactory senses are wierd.


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## canoemaker (Feb 19, 2011)

The first time I smelled the bees working goldenrod I thought I had American Foulbrood, or some other disease. Not a pleasant smell at all. But I love the honey! I agree with Lawrence--to me it has a butterscotch flavor. I just wish it didn't crystalize so fast.


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## ekrouse (Aug 26, 2004)

Here's my post from 3 years ago:

"Goldenrod honey is my top seller. Just sold a whole bunch memorial day weekend for average $5/pound (now $8/pound). It crystalizes very quickly though. The honey is smoother tasting than the summer wildflower and a little less sweet. I find it tastes similar to Tupelo. There are different varieties of Goldenrod plant. Here in Upstate New York it is the "Hairy Goldenrod". Perhaps other varieties taste different.

"Really Raw Honey" brand honey sold in health food stores nationwide is almost exclusively crystalized goldenrod honey from Upstate New York (I know some of the beekeeper who supply them)."

-ekrouse


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## jhs494 (May 6, 2009)

My wife and I like the Goldenrod honey. We have a late fall flow with it and Japanese Knotweed. We leave most on for the bees but we can't help but take some for our own use. I think it isn't as sweet as our early honey and has a more complex robust flavor, and it is even heavier or thicker than our early honey. Good stuff.


JMTC

Joe


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## berkshire bee (Jan 28, 2007)

goldenrod and knotweed here too. I haven't met anyone who doesn't love the honey from it.


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## Michael Bush (Aug 2, 2002)

It smells while they are making it. It tastes wonderful...


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