# Red honey?



## jim lyon (Feb 19, 2006)

This one is a first for me and the honey had a fairly mild flavor. Seeing it in a river bottom location where we have kept bees for quite a few years. The stuff they were bringing in looked quite similar in color to transmission fluid. Any ideas?


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## Michael Bush (Aug 2, 2002)

If I remember the last time transmission fluid ran in my mouth while I was under a car, it did not have a mild flavor...

I would guess this honey had a peppermint taste:
http://www.sltrib.com/sltrib/news/56884400-78/honey-red-beekeepers-according.html.csp

These guys make music, not honey:
http://www.theredhoney.com/

I have no idea...


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## deknow (Jul 17, 2006)

I wonder if it might be japanese knotweed. It's not blooming around here yet, but it does produce a dark nectar...tastes a bit like maple syrup.

Another possibility might be sumac....the staghorn around here has a 'berry like' taste, and definitely a red color.

Both plants move in quickly.

deknow


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## jamccar (Jan 22, 2015)

If you were around residential areas, I would say hummingbird feed.


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## DJS (May 7, 2012)

I am with jamccar, 
I would look at hummingbird feeders in the area.


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## jim lyon (Feb 19, 2006)

It was in two different locations a couple miles apart but both yards were situated similarly in relation to the nearby river bottom. I'm certain its not sumac and though I've never raised knotweed honey my understanding is its pretty dark. 
Hummingbird feed, yes, thats what it looks like but it was a significant enough nectar source that they were building some comb with it.


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## gezellig (Jun 11, 2014)

Hummingbird feeder sugar water


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## jim lyon (Feb 19, 2006)

gezellig said:


> Hummingbird feeder sugar water


Must have been a truckload spilled then as I've got about 100 strong hives all bringing it in.


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## snl (Nov 20, 2009)

Whoever dumped food coloring in your syrup to mess with you, well it worked!


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## JSL (Sep 22, 2007)

Jim,

Do you have Catalpa trees in your area? Some of the older beekeepers around me say if conditions and timing are just right Catalpa produces a reddish honey. I have seen the honey, but cannot verify it is actually Catalpa that is producing it.


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## jim lyon (Feb 19, 2006)

JSL said:


> Jim,
> 
> Do you have Catalpa trees in your area? Some of the older beekeepers around me say if conditions and timing are just right Catalpa produces a reddish honey. I have seen the honey, but cannot verify it is actually Catalpa that is producing it.


It does grow here at least as a specimen, though I'm not aware of any large numbers of plantings anywhere. There is a wildlife management area nearby that may possibly have some sort of unique plantings. The riverbed is wide and shallow and tends to, on occasion, have a lot of marshy areas on its edges. Its not unusual to get greenish Purple Loosestrife honey here later in the summer. Now with red in the mix perhaps I can market the red and green together in a holiday package.


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## AR Beekeeper (Sep 25, 2008)

Do you have kudzu growing in your area? I saw a sample of honey at an association meeting that was red and was told that it came from kudzu vine.


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## GaryG74 (Apr 9, 2014)

A commercial beek East of me in Pickens county AL had red honey two years ago, couple drums of it, that she said was from yellow (tulip) poplar.


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## RowdyFreeman (Apr 24, 2014)

I know a ranch in Cali that has a species of willow that produces red nectar and makes really good tasting, red colored honey. In fact the rancher buys every drop of it and won't allow it to be sold anywhere else.


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## jim lyon (Feb 19, 2006)

RowdyFreeman said:


> I know a ranch in Cali that has a species of willow that produces red nectar and makes really good tasting, red colored honey. In fact the rancher buys every drop of it and won't allow it to be sold anywhere else.


That's the best theory I have heard. It corresponds with both the time of year and the large marshy forage area.


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## Mbeck (Apr 27, 2011)

Where can someone get honey tested and would that help explain?
It would be nice to have a few bottles with a high percentage of a given flow around to taste and compare against diffferent years


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