# Why the dark honey this year?



## paintingpreacher (Jul 29, 2006)

Not sure about you but I had a good flow from Poplar trees this spring. First time in several years. Some of my hives were mixed with clover and Poplar. It was not black but a dark red color with a good taste. We also get some very dark honey from peppervine but I doubt it bloomed that early. Most of my darker honey comes mid summer. Not sure what it is but my customers seem to like it. Wish I could tell you for sure the nectar source but sometimes it seems only the bees know.


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## COAL REAPER (Jun 24, 2014)

sorry, i am not near you but thought i would share my july harvest vs. mid-september.


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## paintingpreacher (Jul 29, 2006)

Coal Reaper;; Do you know the source of your dark honey? Could it be buckwheat? Which one taste best?


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## sqkcrk (Dec 10, 2005)

Some years certain flowering plants will produce nectar and some years other nectar producing plants do and the others don't or not as much. So each year can be different, especially if you only take off honey once and blend it all together during the extracting process.


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## COAL REAPER (Jun 24, 2014)

paintingpreacher said:


> Coal Reaper;; Do you know the source of your dark honey? Could it be buckwheat? Which one taste best?


i wish i knew. i dont know of any buckwheat near me. i work on a naturaly grown farm several miles away that plant it as a quick cover crop before the fall leafy greens go in. that field was buzzing with bees in august. i got lots of goldenrod, but i have not noticed the girls on any. though some days i smell it curing in the hives so there has to be an influence of it though i dont taste it very strong. also didnt see any bees in my tulip poplars this spring. silly girls. we also didnt have much if any locust bloom this year. never touched the clover in my yard. who knows. i just let them do thier thing.
they both taste VERY good this year. i love the dark in my morning oatmeal. doesnt have a strong bite to it at all. neither is better than the other, just different.


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## sqkcrk (Dec 10, 2005)

Bamboo, aka knotweed, perhaps?


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## Chickasaw Honey (Jul 21, 2014)

The dark is the same color as what my bees produced.


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