# Very dark, almost black minty honey



## James Burke (Feb 4, 2002)

*Honey taste*

Perhaps buckwheat......?



Jim


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## lstclair (Mar 6, 2007)

James Burke said:


> Perhaps buckwheat......?
> 
> Jim


I thought about that, but I live in 'burbs of a college town. Like a lot of old neighborhoods that used to be farms, I have plenty of mature apple trees, clover, imperfect lawns with dandelions, and unkempt swaths with goldenrod and asters, but it's hard to imagine the bio prof and her family growing buckwheat.

In any case, two hives that started out tiny this spring (it was a rough spring in Upstate) produced a 100 lbs or so of this stuff. Can't complain, I guess.

Edited to add: A bit more Googling turned up false bamboo as a dark honey that is similar to buckwheat, but milder. That might well be it, and there are stands of the stuff in this area.


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## danno1800 (Mar 13, 2004)

*sound like Japanese knotweed honey to me...*

get a box of plastic spoons & let your customers taste it...they will like it! Also tell them the darker honey has more vitamins, minerals & antioxydants. Hope that helps! -Danno


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## lstclair (Mar 6, 2007)

danno1800 said:


> get a box of plastic spoons & let your customers taste it...they will like it! Also tell them the darker honey has more vitamins, minerals & antioxydants. Hope that helps! -Danno


Thanks, Danno. My "customers" are friends and family who pay a whopping nothin'.  Guess we'll see if they like it!


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## SwarmCatcher (Mar 4, 2004)

*Knotweed*

It's Japanese knotweed. I moved two hives to a river bed. That was loaded with knotweed. Each hive I put on new shallow foundation and they each made about 70lbs of honey each. The comb is almost black and the honey is very dark. Knotweed is in the buckwheat family. I live in Sullivan County Ny. - Don


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## RAlex (Aug 18, 2001)

Hi Lesli...Swarmcatcher is right about the knotweed. I usually call it bamboo when I bottle it. I have a lot of trouble extracting it as I use a cold knive to take off my cappings, and I dont have a heated honey house . If not careful I tear the cells and its like extracting super glue. I do have customers who asked for it specifically tho...lol.. Rick


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## Jeff McGuire (Nov 18, 2005)

I get lots of Knotwed honey around here too, have cusomers asking for it all the time. I think it almost has a crabapple taste too.


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## Maine_Beekeeper (Mar 19, 2006)

*look at it in the light*

Hold your dark honey jar up to a light or a sunny window. 
Is it red like red wine? if yes, Japanese knotweed is also my vote. 
Delicous, slow to crystallize. 
GOOD honey here in the northeast. 
I have customers who wait all summer for it.


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## riverrat (Jun 3, 2006)

*acids in the honey changing its color*

I was at the kansas honey producers association meeting last weekend DR. Chip Taylor out of KU was asked why the honey was darker this year compared to other years we was all wondering the secondary nectar source the bees could have been going to due to a late freeze and monsoon rains after which. his answer was when there is a good flow on with plenty of mositure then it suddenly gets dry and hot during this flow the tanic acids (unsure if tanic is right word but close) in the honey go thru a change that makes the honey darker it can range dark brown to a tint of red I have not had a chance to research any of this but was wondering if anyone else had heard of this. THis makes since since I have seen alfalfa honey range from light to dark in different years


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## Jeffzhear (Dec 2, 2006)

riverrat said:


> "...his answer was when there is a good flow on with plenty of mositure then it suddenly gets dry and hot during this flow the tanic acids (unsure if tanic is right word but close) in the honey go thru a change that makes the honey darker it can range dark brown to a tint of red..."


Interesting...For as much bloom as the Japanese Knotweed (Bamboo) had, it was too dry here and there was little nectar. But we had a great spring Locus flow which turned out some wonderful light table honey.

We'll see what next year brings...


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## tecumseh (Apr 26, 2005)

not really sure if this answers your question riverrat...

first, it seems to me that darker comb in a super will influence the color of the honey. secondly, time and the effects of oxidation (which I assume is what the acid in honey does) also makes the honey darker.


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## riverrat (Jun 3, 2006)

tecumseh said:


> not really sure if this answers your question riverrat...
> 
> first, it seems to me that darker comb in a super will influence the color of the honey. secondly, time and the effects of oxidation (which I assume is what the acid in honey does) also makes the honey darker.


tecumseh thanks for the reply. I had bees on new foundation this year that produced dark as coke honey we seldom in kansas get honey that dark especially from our early flow. With that said it eliminates the comb theory. our early flow came late it was on the hive in early august I pulled it in sept. the honey was dark before it was ripe. these dark honeys has been the report all over kansas this year. we are unsure why this has happened which is why the question came up at the khpa meeting. I will try to dig into it further and report back


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## buz (Dec 8, 2005)

*It's a dry heat*

My crop was considerably darker this year too. We haven't been getting the monsoon rains as heavy the past few years. Sure has been hot. I was thinking the major source for the bees might have changed. There are no cultivated fields around--so my wildflower honey is chaparall and scrub oak, lots of willow in the streambanks. Mesquite was real showy this year--more proof of draught. I always plant sweetclovers and flax in hopes of rain.

BTW taste is just fine.


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