# soybean honey



## jim lyon

My understanding from those who have raised it is that it is quite light and mild. I have had bees around soybeans for years and my experience is that it is odorless, tasteless and virtually impossible to detect....if you know what I mean. I hope you raise some but I wouldn't get my hopes too high if I were you.


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## jmgi

jim, are you saying that soybeans don't produce much honey? Maybe I don't know what you mean.


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## hpm08161947

He is saying you are not likely to get much honey off of soy beans. Same experience here..... not saying it can't happen, but at least around here it does not seem to happen very often.


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## lupester

I think it has to do with how much water the beans have to produce nectar. I put hives on "bottom beans" in MS. The farmers just flood the fields if they don't get rain. They rotate between rice and soybeans. Our bees build up and put on the honey like crazy. Its by far the sweetest honey I get. Some people ask only for our MS honey.


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## mrqb

sweet very sweet,very light color a totally different kinda floral taste,but actually i have no way of knowing what else is going in hive at same time,there's usually sunflowers or something producing at same time as soybeans


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## snl

I've placed hives in soyfields (non-irrigated) for years...........and have yet to see a drop of honey from them....If they've gathered any they were rather stingy and kept it to themselves..........


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## hpm08161947

Just curious. In the areas that see a soy bean honey flow - what time of the year does the flow generally start?


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## khaas15

The November 2011 issue of Bee Culture had a very good article on soybean honey. I would suggest reading it. Basically, nectar flow from soybeans is not a given and depends a lot on temperature, type of soybean, ... 

I would also be concerned with pesticides being applied to the fields where my bees are working. I put a hive on some farmland last year and by fall, lost the hive. Long story but some crop dusting was done in the area and I think it contributed to their downfall.


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## summer1052

I would not put beans there without some serious research. Any type of soybean hybrid created in the last 10 years is very likely to be self pollinating, and with low nectar yields.

The big deal now is Round Up Ready Soybeans -- soybeans that can tolerate having their field sprayed with Round Up, to kill other weeds. Round Up is not good for bees. If the field is sprayed with Round Up when bloom is on, the bees may collect nectar and or pollen that includes Round Up. 

It's a tricky thing these days to put a hive on crops that you are not doing yourself. 

Good Luck!
*Summer*


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## jmgi

So it sounds to me like soybeans don't produce much for the bees, if they work them its probably because nothing else is blooming that they like better. Actually I'm not putting them in the beans specifically for its honey, there is alot of other bee forage in the area that interests me more than the beans, it just so happens that there's alot beans grown too. John


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## lupester

Last year on soy which runs from about June 15 - July 15. The farmer calls and says they other people in the area are going to start spraying pesticides. We harvested 41 gallons of honey from 9 hives on the soy. Unfortunately the hives were not built up from our spring since we had a drought. We are getting rain and I plan to kill the soy this year. 

The farmers I deal with spray Roundup on the beans when the plants are small to kill the competition...then they don't need any more roundup because the beans choke the weeds out.


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## DRUR

jmgi said:


> So it sounds to me like soybeans don't produce much for the bees, if they work them its probably because nothing else is blooming that they like better.


_Well, yes and no! Let's make some since out of these posts_



khaas15 said:


> The November 2011 issue of Bee Culture had a very good article on soybean honey. *I would suggest reading it*. Basically, nectar flow from soybeans is not a given and depends a lot on temperature, *type of soybean*, ...


Seems like the research suggests there are different factors such as the type. And also from the posts maybe how much water they get.



lupester said:


> *I think it has to do with how much water the beans have to produce nectar*. I put hives on "bottom beans" in MS. *The farmers just flood the fields if they don't get rain*. They rotate between rice and soybeans. *Our bees build up and put on the honey like crazy*. Its by far *the sweetest honey I get*. Some people ask only for our MS honey.


_So lupester, what color were your beans?_



mrqb said:


> sweet very sweet,very light color a totally different kinda floral taste,but actually i have no way of knowing what else is going in hive at same time,there's usually sunflowers or something producing at same time as soybeans


_So mrqb, what color were your beans?_



snl said:


> I've placed hives in soyfields (non-irrigated) for years...........and have yet to see a drop of honey from them....If they've gathered any they were rather stingy and kept it to themselves..........


*So snl, what color were your beans? Seems to me that some have produced honey and it is some of the sweetest best tasting stuff on the face of the earth:banana:*

I sure wish someone would invite me to put my bees on some of that soybeans in Ms. Hint, hint, :shhhh:

Kindest Regards
Danny Unger


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## lupester

The ones I was on were purple. DRUR...you know we pass through Tyler if you want to put some bees on. I am hoping to get 30 hives there this year.


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## lupester

This was my status from the 1st year I went....its on a post from 2010. Indeterminate beans grow, bloom, grow bloom, where Determinate I think only grow and bloom for a shorter period. 

Just an update to what I found out this year in the Delta country. I had good honey gathering on the following Indeterminate Beans:
Group 4 Asgrove 94B73
Group 5 Hornbeck 5525
Group (unknown) Pioneer 95


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## Skinner Apiaries

We made maybe a third on beans this year. But we place small yards on very large acreages.


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## jmgi

Skinner Apiaries said:


> We made maybe a third on beans this year. But we place small yards on very large acreages.


Can you give an example of the ratio of hives to acres that you use? Thanks, John


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## Skinner Apiaries

Not really sure, we've been in a 300 acre field with as few as 24 hives, and with several hundred more connecting acres of other beans on nearby farms. We can make a super, not sure about the variables, seems its debatable that certain strains produce honey and other's do not. I believe it has alot to do with soil moisture, but that's a guess. The thing I did not make honey on, was cotton.


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## StevenG

I put 20 hives of varying degrees of strength on a soybean field the past two years. Within a mile, probably 600 acres of beans, all flood irrigated. I try to put them there when the first bloom appears. Flow lasts about 2 weeks, then it stops. I've averaged 50 pounds per strong hive from the beans.
Regards,
Steven


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## lupester

Steve, 
I think they call those Determinate beans. From what I heard they grow and bloom once like you state. They have a shorter growing period than the InDeterminate beans. Do they have a crop from the winter they are harvesting before they plant the beans? If they did that would give them less time for the beans to grow, therefore they use the InDeterminate.
I dont understand exactly but I am learning.


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## StevenG

Lupester, you're correct. In fact, the various fields contained either white, or purple blooming beans. And if memory serves me, both types, determinate and indeterminate, were planted by different farmers. Problem is, around here they have a serious problem with a particular type of worm. So they aerial spray a few weeks after bloom starts, IF they see indication of the worm. If they don't spray, they lose the crop. First year I had bees on the beans, it was like a door slammed shut on the flow. I found out they had all sprayed. I lost three days worth of field bees. Colonies recovered just fine, and overwintered very well.

This past year I determined to avoid a pesticide kill. So the day before they all sprayed, I moved the bees several miles away to a bean field on a river, where that farmer never sprays. Got nary a lick of honey off that field. Not sure what I'll do this year. Gets real frustrating.
Regards,
Steven


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## AstroBee

I get soybean honey nearly every year. Last year the bean honey crop was outstanding. I had one colony that made 5 mediums of soybean honey. Honey is far superior to cotton honey and has a nice flavor and color. It doesn't crystallize nearly as fast as cotton honey. Hoping for a repeat to last year. 

Oh yeah, those people allergic to soy products may have an allergic reaction to soybean honey. I've had one doctor-confirmed case reported back to me by a customer. Just a heads up.


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## JRG13

Farmers don't spray near bloom as it might affect yields.


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## jmgi

Can someone explain the difference between full season and late season soybeans in terms of when they plant each of them? I live in Michigan so I guess it will be different depending on where they are planted. John


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## Ben Franklin

Fields of soybeans are not sprayed with round up. It is used before the field is planted. Round Up Ready soybeans are resistant to the round up in and on the ground. Also the remarks made about soybeans being self pollinating is true. In the process of getting more per acre we have developed some great things. But along the way we have messed with Mother Nature to the point we are now seeing. I believe in the next 10 years we will see reports of people dying from all the altered food sources.

We have hundreds of acres across from me. I sure wish it was Buckwheat instead.


It's a tricky thing these days to put a hive on crops that you are not doing yourself. 

Good Luck!
*Summer*[/QUOTE]


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## runner_114

Soybeans are sprayed when they are at least five leaf stage of growth but before they shade the target weeds from the herbicide. Round up is a contact killer not a soil absorbed product.


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## New Ky Beekeeper

I got some honey off of some soybeans & golden rod. It did have a light scent to it. But very sweat.


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## Ben Franklin

runner_114 said:


> Soybeans are sprayed when they are at least five leaf stage of growth but before they shade the target weeds from the herbicide. Round up is a contact killer not a soil absorbed product.


If Round Up is a Contact Herbicide it would kill the soybeans also. And if the soil is left untouched most weeds will not sprout. Roundup is used around the High Power towers and has lasted two years.


I am sorry for the above post,,,I re read the roundup ready soybeans information and yes the beans will tolerate being sprayed.
I tried to delete my post however once the horse is out of the barn it will not turn around.


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## jim lyon

No problem Ben, we have all done it. Humility can be in pretty short supply on here at times. If it happens again just say someone hacked your computer.


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## TWall

Soybeans have always been self-fertile. That is what made them so hard to breed. The flowers need to be opened early and the the anthers removed so they do not pollinate themselves. The upside is that once you have the cross you want it reproduces very pure so it is easy to multiply the seed.

I have yet to make much soybean honey. 

Tom


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## JRG13

Yeah, crossing soy/peas is a pain, one of the toughest flowers to open up. Ben, Round-up has no residual, glyphosate binds organic compounds instantly and is deactivated in that manner. One reason why you need to make sure you use clean water when spraying round up. Ben, we're already killing ourselves with altered food...refined sugars, preservatives etc...


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## Live Oak

jmgi said:


> I am placing a bee yard in the middle of hundreds of acres of soybeans, what is the color of the honey and what kind of honey would you compare the taste to? John


I would caution you to be very careful and watchful of your hives if you decide to do this. Perhaps not place all of your hives in the soy beans. Most soy beans are treated with clothianidin which is EXTREMELY toxic to honey bees. The information and arguements on this topic are on going but something you should be aware of. Do what you think best. 

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Clothianidin 

http://corn.osu.edu/newsletters/2010/2010-03/new-soybean-insecticide-seed-treatments


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## hpm08161947

Live Oak said:


> I would caution you to be very careful and watchful of your hives if you decide to do this. Perhaps not place all of your hives in the soy beans.



Just curious.... have you seen a lot of bee death around soybeans? I know I have not.


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## jim lyon

hpm08161947 said:


> Just curious.... have you seen a lot of bee death around soybeans? I know I have not.


Nor have I Herb. I cant prove or disprove that seeds treated with Clothianidin harm bees I can only say that our bees have only gotten better in recent years as the use of these treatments has flourished. For those who feel that there is much of a difference in "placing" or "not placing" bees on soybeans I offer up this little mathematical reminder: Given the fact that bees will forage up to 3 miles from the hive (there have been proven instances where they have gone 4 miles) that would constitute a total foraging area of over 28 square miles.


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## Live Oak

hpm08161947 said:


> Just curious.... have you seen a lot of bee death around soybeans? I know I have not.


No. Nothing I can point to as conclusive proof.


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