I bet thats a lot of fun working with the commercial guys. Id like to see one of their set ups one day but definitely wouldnt want to have to keep up with that many hives Im happy with just the two I have.
I beekeeper a little further south of me put some hives in a sage field and the honey from that was delicous with just a slight hint of sage I bet the fruit trees would give it a nice sweet flavor.
I imagine that if the bees were kept in hops and the honey was harvested right away that it would have a hoppy taste to it. Im not sure about fermenting though that would be mead (honey wine) which is usually just fermented with yeast and whatever you add to it for flavoring every mead Ive had is pretty sweet so Im not sure adding hops to the wine would be very good. On the other hand adding honey to a batch of beer would probably be good. I havent tried making any mead yet but I have a couple pounds set aside for it.
Hey Gang, I signed up for the Bee keepers course at Rutgers university starting mid Feb and going through April… Can't wait
Yea, Thanks! I always was interested in it but just never took the step…. I can't wait to try, "GOD knows what kind of Honey" the bees will make around here….. It'll be Heinz 57 honey flavor
Dave what grows around you? Are you in the city, suburbs, rural or country? Think about what your see in bloom during the spring and that will give you an idea of what your bees will be collecting. I have lots of clover, wildflowers, fruit, and various crops around me so my spring honey is made from a wide variety of stuff. I met one guy that puts his bees in sage and that honey comes out with a slight hint of sage. We have the cotton crop around here so I get a second harvest off of that and it has a very different flavor from my spring honey it also crystallizes very fast.
Hmmm… That's a tough one, Were in a shore area residential neighborhhood… We have three vineyards within two miles, lots of clover in yards, mostly older folks who plant God know what? I have a big grape arbor and and the wife and I do "all" kinds of flowers in the spring and summer. I can't say specificly whats around except dune fragmites, "the tall dune weed with the fluff on top" Lastly, Many people have back yard gardens, "hence the garden state" NJ. I'm libal to get honey that taste like tomatoes…… Nearly everyone around here grows tomatoes in the back yard.
You should be fine Dave the vegetable plants wont come through in the flavor sounds like you have a good wide variety of things for them to forage on which will make them happy and when you break in and steal their honey that sweet reward will make you happy.
