Philosopher Lane Brand Creamed Honey - Prairie Style
As an update to our September blog post, we eventually did extract 70+ pounds of honey, and we are expecting to extract more today - stay tuned! We've had some improved fall weather, particularly with rain, and while the goldenrod is pretty much kaput, our anemone and sedums are still in bloom and the needed rain has helped replenish the nectar stores in the flowers.
In an age of Fake News, fake eyelashes, fake hair, fake meat, and pretty much fake anything else, I get questions about fake honey and whether it is a problem or not. There is fake honey and yes it is a problem. Fake honey is NOT HONEY. Most people think honey=sugar=sucrose but that is not true. Honey has water, glucose, fructose, and trace minerals and vitamins. It has small quantities of hydrogen peroxide too, which accounts for some of its antimicrobial properties. Note that honey has as a higher fructose to glucose ratio as compared to sucrose. Sucrose, which is a 1:1 ratio of fructose to glucose, is just sugar; there are no other vitamins, etc. The vitamins, etc. come from the nectar itself. Honey that is adulterated with sugar water for instance, whether it's by the beekeeper feeding sugar water to prevent starvation, or just by adding sugar water to honey, is not real honey even though it tastes sweet.
There are articles about how to test honey to see if it's real or fake, such as putting a drop of honey into a bowl of water and watching the real honey drop drift to the bottom of the bowl intact. Our honey does this, but not all honey will do this. In fact, if I leave honey at the bottom of a jar and pour water into the jar, the honey stays on the bottom and does not wash off easily. It's thick and viscous. However, there is also real honey that is thin and will dissipate quickly when dropped into water. The thickness of the honey has to do with the water content; cured honey is 18% water. Real honey will crystallize, fake honey never will. In fact, if you always purchase crystallized honey, you are more likely getting real honey. The real issue is doctored honey, where small amounts of fake honey are added to it. This is more of a problem with honey from outside the US and Canada, but as we have written here before, some beekeepers will upp their harvests by feeding sugar water, which the bees will pack away and dehydrate to cure as honey. It is possible that some of this "real honey" is thinner and thus won't pass the drop test. Our honey has always passed this test. It's thick AND has a tendency to crystallize fast!
Like most things, it is important to know how your food is raised, and honey is no different. We do not spray pesticides, and if you visit our gardens, yes, our lawn is full of weedy clover and our beds do have weeds. In fact, we've met many great people who stop by while we are weeding the flowerbeds! We've been composting for 20+ years, long before it became fashionable. We practice organic beekeeping as well: we use screened boards for mite control, and natural products when and if necessary. We have many theories about bee health, one of which is the nutrition of the bees. 2020 is the first year our bees have relied almost exclusively on our forage, rather than split their time between our forage and wild forage. We have always overplanted, to be sure that we can support our bees, and in fact, we ended up also supporting wildlife. Our bees were wing to wing with butterflies, other native bees, and hummingbirds. While our fall harvest is smaller, we still have a respectable harvest.
While our bees are cozied up in their hives for the winter with their delicious honey, we will be inside, all snug and warm, with our mugs of hot tea sweetened with a dollop of sweet sunbeam honey!
Disclaimers: Blog posts are opinions, not advice. One thing all beekeepers will agree on, is that if you ask 10 beekeepers what to do, you'll get 13 different answers. Beekeeping is alchemy, nature, and a bit of magic.
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