Welcome, Guest

Author Topic: 1st ever honey harvest ~> Oregon wetlands blackberry & wildflower  (Read 5396 times)

Offline Dane Bramage

  • Field Bee
  • ***
  • Posts: 509
  • Gender: Male
I pulled 5 capped frames from one of my hive's supers as my first ever harvest earlier this evening.  Gave me a chance to test drive the saf natura 9/18 motorized stainless radial extractor and master elec uncapping knife.  All worked very well without incident nor much muss & fuss.  I was a little concerned about the frames fitting rather loosely but the centrifugal force held them in place nicely.  I extracted ~ 2gallons. 
The quality of this honey is really unique from anything I've ever experienced.  I am a beginner beek but have been a honey connoisseur for several years - always selecting raw, unheated, unfiltered honeys.  I picked up some blackberry honey from my local beek supply shop in order to compare my harvest.  I believe blackberry is the main nectar contributor to my current honey harvest but there is definitely something else going on.  It is lighter in color, not as "high glycemic" (less sweet) and incredibly more complex in taste and aromatics than the straight blackberry.  It seems almost more like tupelo honey, but more full bodied & intricate.  Fruity but very floral as well - like roses over blackberry or even Juicy Fruit gum (as an artificial comparison).  I feel a need to attempt to identify the other contributing blooms.  The pollen collection is mainly the blackberry gray but there is also very bright (almost "neon") orange and lemon yellow at the moment.

At any rate - wow!  I'm happy & impressed!  This being my first season I imagine I'll not have much surplus (& I've already committed to giving away loads, lol) but I'm going to try and get some samples to some more experienced beeks to get their impressions.  I'm really doing my best to be objective with my review but I need to rule out pride clouding my judgment.  :mrgreen:

Cheers,
Dane

Offline BEE C

  • House Bee
  • **
  • Posts: 329
Re: 1st ever honey harvest ~> Oregon wetlands blackberry & wildflower
« Reply #1 on: July 02, 2007, 06:57:57 am »
Congrats,

Do you have fireweed around the blackberries?  We have tons of it right now in amongst the blackberries and I noticed a few different flows last year, didn't really notice the fireweed last year but it is out in force this year here at least.  We are just having good weather to hopefully help with the blackberry flowering, but late this year.  West coast wet up here...

Offline JP

  • The Swarm King
  • Universal Bee
  • *******
  • Posts: 11709
  • Gender: Male
  • I like doing cut-outs, but I love catching swarms!
    • JPthebeeman.com
Re: 1st ever honey harvest ~> Oregon wetlands blackberry & wildflower
« Reply #2 on: July 02, 2007, 10:08:07 am »
Nothing quite like fresh honey. Heck you can tell right off if that honey is magnificent or average joe. Sounds like I would be doing a lot of boasting about that batch, sounds delish.
My Youtube page is titled JPthebeeman with hundreds of educational & entertaining videos.

My website JPthebeeman.com http://jpthebeeman.com

Offline Sean Kelly

  • Field Bee
  • ***
  • Posts: 913
  • Gender: Male
  • I Pick; Therefore I Grin
    • Sean's Facebook Page
Re: 1st ever honey harvest ~> Oregon wetlands blackberry & wildflower
« Reply #3 on: July 02, 2007, 10:28:50 am »
Hey Dane!  That's awesome to hear man!  I'm just north of you, near Tacoma and everything around us is totally over run with blackberries.  I just checked my hives yesterday and they were totally plugged up with honey, including the new medium supers with undrawn foundation I put on just 5 days ago!!!

What color is your honey?  I was in Beaverton about 3 weeks ago and noticed your blackberries were in bloom maybe a week before ours were, so my stuff is still uncapped.  What I saw was pretty dark colored honey, not super dark like buckwheat honey but just a little lighter.  Is blackberry honey usually dark or is that the result of something else in my area?

Very cool and it's good to hear your hives are doing well!

Sean Kelly
"My son,  eat  thou honey,  because it is good;  and the honeycomb,  which is sweet  to thy taste"          - Proverbs 24:13

Offline Kathyp

  • Global Moderator
  • Universal Bee
  • *******
  • Posts: 20339
  • Gender: Female
Re: 1st ever honey harvest ~> Oregon wetlands blackberry & wildflower
« Reply #4 on: July 02, 2007, 10:39:01 am »
that's great!  honey right out of the hive does taste different.  i couldn't stay out of mine last year.  every time i walked past it, i stuck a knife in and had a taste.

my blackberries are almost done.  2 week bloom and that's it.  still no honey and minimal stores even in big hives.  i can't believe how different it is just between your place and mine!
Someone really ought to tell them that the world of Ayn Rand?s novel was not meant to be aspirational.

Offline Dane Bramage

  • Field Bee
  • ***
  • Posts: 509
  • Gender: Male
Re: 1st ever honey harvest ~> Oregon wetlands blackberry & wildflower
« Reply #5 on: July 02, 2007, 01:09:41 pm »
Thanks for the kind words all!  :-D

I took a quick photo of the local blackberry honey (on left) vs. what I harvested (on right) backlit by this morning's sunshine.  You can see how much lighter mine is.  There's also a lot of wax in mine.  I did not strain at all (though I do have loads of food grade monofilament PET filter material) and also put the cappings right in with the honey collected.  I like wax so this is sort of my "poor man's" honeycomb honey.  I wanted to leave the comb on the frames for my bees (who've had to draw everything this year)




BEE C ~> I'm unsure on the fireweed though there are are bunches of unknown (to me) flowers going on that look similar (though more purple).  I know there a lots of dandelions and morning glory (unsure if the bees are foraging on either atm).  I am going to bring my camera and capture images of all the flowers in the area I can find and post up here for help identifying them.

JP ~> I'm going to take some in to my honey supply store to get their impressions.  Once I have more surplus I'd be happy to send (and/or exchange) small samples with forum members here.  I'm just curious to get other's impressions.

Sean ~> You were right next door to my apiary in Hillsboro.  I posted those pics up for comparison.  Does yours look closer to the blackberry honey on the left?  I believe the left is the typical blackberry honey color from the samples I've seen, but I've not a lot of experience.  Our blackberries are finishing up now.  Amazing how fast they build up when the flow is on eh?

Kathy ~> I know what you mean about sampling.  I want a veil with a zipper by my mouth!!  Do you think my honey will lose it's flavor quickly?

Thanks again!
Dane

Offline BEE C

  • House Bee
  • **
  • Posts: 329
Re: 1st ever honey harvest ~> Oregon wetlands blackberry & wildflower
« Reply #6 on: July 04, 2007, 01:55:44 am »
Dane,
I think this is what my blackberry honey looked like last year.


Offline Cindi

  • Galactic Bee
  • ******
  • Posts: 9825
  • Gender: Female
Re: 1st ever honey harvest ~> Oregon wetlands blackberry & wildflower
« Reply #7 on: July 04, 2007, 08:49:36 am »
Wow, what a thread.

Dane, good for you, I feel your pride.  I harvested beautiful honey last year, it was the darker golden colour, I am still proud to this day when I give my family and friends, or any one for that matter this product from these special  ladies in my life.  Yeah!!!!!  Keep on keepin' on.  Have the wonderful life, beautiful day.  Cindi
There are strange things done in the midnight sun by the men who moil for gold.  The Arctic trails have their secret tales that would make your blood run cold.  The Northern Lights have seen queer sights, but the queerest they ever did see, what the night on the marge of Lake Lebarge, I cremated Sam McGee.  Robert Service

Offline Deb-Bee

  • New Bee
  • *
  • Posts: 18
  • Gender: Female
Re: 1st ever honey harvest ~> Oregon wetlands blackberry & wildflower
« Reply #8 on: July 04, 2007, 12:00:45 pm »
Dane:  We're a bit north of you and are jealous.  This will be our first harvest year as well and we may not get much.  For one thing, the construction in our area is unbelievable and the acres of blackberries that we have lost to housing developments makes us want to weep!  We also live in this weird convergent zone and the weather is sometimes very odd.  We've had lots of sunshine but hard rains about every 3-4 days.  I think it really dilutes the nectar and makes foraging a challenge.  My husband is like you - has been a honey lover for years and has brought back samples from all over the world from his business travels.  Some of it was wonderful but we're just sure it will be more fun to sample our own!  We'll get some but not the quantity that we had hoped for.  Your honey sounds wonderful!  Congrats!

Offline Dane Bramage

  • Field Bee
  • ***
  • Posts: 509
  • Gender: Male
Re: 1st ever honey harvest ~> Oregon wetlands blackberry & wildflower
« Reply #9 on: July 04, 2007, 03:34:20 pm »
That looks tasty Bee C!

Thanks Cindi ~ I'm actually not proud because I do realize my role in this is very small.  I do feel blessed, lucky & extremely appreciative.  When I think of the logistics involved with every visit by every bee to every single flower and it's contribution to the whole I am amazed and humbled.  It's fascinating for me to contemplate how all these different nectar essences have blended into this incredible honey.  I'm giving thanks more than ever these days.

Hi & thanks Deb-Bee!  How many hives did you start with?  I was also not expecting much, if anything this year, was planning on it being a "build-up" year and hoping that they'd fill their two deep 10 frame brood chambers for the long, wet winter.  I do think I am very fortunate with this seemingly optimum apiary locale.  That being said, I've got 10 hives going and only the one's I started first (4 from Nucs) are yielding surplus thus far (though I've recently supered most of the others as well).  I've two slower hives that aren't supered.  Here's hoping next year is bountiful for both of us!

& I'll leave you all with some better photos of this crazy aromatic "Juicy Fruit" honey (quart jar)



Cheers,
Dane

Offline Cindi

  • Galactic Bee
  • ******
  • Posts: 9825
  • Gender: Female
Re: 1st ever honey harvest ~> Oregon wetlands blackberry & wildflower
« Reply #10 on: July 04, 2007, 05:42:43 pm »
Dane I love your honey name, "Oregon Wetlands Honey", sounds mystical and intriguing.  Good for you.  Yeah!!!!  Best of this great day.  Cindi
There are strange things done in the midnight sun by the men who moil for gold.  The Arctic trails have their secret tales that would make your blood run cold.  The Northern Lights have seen queer sights, but the queerest they ever did see, what the night on the marge of Lake Lebarge, I cremated Sam McGee.  Robert Service

Offline BeeJay

  • New Bee
  • *
  • Posts: 22
  • Gender: Male
Re: 1st ever honey harvest ~> Oregon wetlands blackberry & wildflower
« Reply #11 on: July 04, 2007, 07:02:48 pm »
Must be nice to have fresh Honey this early in the summer :)

Offline Deb-Bee

  • New Bee
  • *
  • Posts: 18
  • Gender: Female
Re: 1st ever honey harvest ~> Oregon wetlands blackberry & wildflower
« Reply #12 on: July 05, 2007, 03:59:46 pm »
Dane:  We have three hives and will probably have significant surplus from only one of them.  A second hive will probably yield a little.  Our third hive, which was going great guns this spring, has had some problems (we're still learning....) so those girls are working for themselves right now! 

Offline Dane Bramage

  • Field Bee
  • ***
  • Posts: 509
  • Gender: Male
Re: Oregon wetlands honey + pollen ID help
« Reply #13 on: July 05, 2007, 05:47:19 pm »
Thx Cindi ~ I was just messing with photoshop there.  I wouldn't consider it appropriate to label my honey as such because the wetlands aren't the only forage area.  I would love to pursue setting up hives in the middle of vast wetlands however. 

BeeJay ~ indeed it is! Especially with the anxiousness of a first harvest.  Now I'll be storing away some for future comparisons & enjoyment.  :-D

Deb-Bee ~ sounds good!  That's part of the reason I started with 10 hives ~> getting the "law of averages" to work in my favour.  ;)

Ok - pollen ID request (I'll likely create a new thread for this one).  Here's the image:

I know the gray is the blackberry but - any input on what that very dark pollen would be?  I'm also curious about the orange (aster or goldenrod perhaps?).  Whatever this combo is it makes for some delicious honey & pollen!  :-P


Cheers,
Dane

Offline Scadsobees

  • Galactic Bee
  • ******
  • Posts: 3198
  • Gender: Male
  • Best use of smileys in a post award.
Re: 1st ever honey harvest ~> Oregon wetlands blackberry & wildflower
« Reply #14 on: July 06, 2007, 09:17:21 am »
Hi Dane
The honey and pollen looks great, and sounds like it tastes even better!

Probably the only way to ID what goes into your honey is to identify the flowers they come from.  Obviously a lot of blackberry going into it.  I'm trying to keep track of what is blooming and when.  Mostly out of curiousity, I'll never get a single source honey.

One source that really suprised me was all the trees....for me: maple (not usually a surplus), wild cherry, sycamore, locust, linden, etc.

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

I have a lot of the dark brown (crimson clover?) and orange (american linden?) very similar to yours, but considering the location difference.....who knows?

Rick
Rick

Offline Cindi

  • Galactic Bee
  • ******
  • Posts: 9825
  • Gender: Female
Re: 1st ever honey harvest ~> Oregon wetlands blackberry & wildflower
« Reply #15 on: July 06, 2007, 09:32:26 am »
Dane, ha, you surprised me.  When I first saw the picture of the pollen in the glass, I thought it was a bunch of little pebbles and wondered where you were going with that.  Beautiful picture.

Photoshop, Adobe Elements?  My husband bought me the latest version of Adobe Photoshop Elements 5.0 (I think that it what it is), was on sale at London Drugs, but I haven't had time to fiddle with it yet.  Thank the stars above for the digital camera.

I also got a new camera, it is a Sony cybershot, has the touch screen and man does it make the picture taking easy.  No more buttons for menus and so on, touch the screen for all formatting and I love it.  The LED screen is quite large, easy to view pictures, the macro and telephoto are astounding, never a blurry picture either, pretty impressive.  Ooops, off topic.

Nice beautiful pollen.  I think that later this summer I will gather a little pollen.  My husband made me a pollen trap last fall, but didn't get to use it.  I have one hive that is booming and I know for sure that they wouldn't mind a little diversion (eeks).

All the colonies are going strong, and our honeyflow is really coming on strong in my immediate area.  I actually am now of the belief that I will gather honey this summer too, yeah!!!  Have the wonderful day, great life, the sun is shinin'.  Cindi
There are strange things done in the midnight sun by the men who moil for gold.  The Arctic trails have their secret tales that would make your blood run cold.  The Northern Lights have seen queer sights, but the queerest they ever did see, what the night on the marge of Lake Lebarge, I cremated Sam McGee.  Robert Service

Offline KONASDAD

  • Super Bee
  • *****
  • Posts: 2011
  • Gender: Male
Re: 1st ever honey harvest ~> Oregon wetlands blackberry & wildflower
« Reply #16 on: July 06, 2007, 09:40:56 am »
Pollen more often comes from the trees and vegies around here. Squash has that brite orange color. Mine isknow yor isolated more than many of us,. but I wuld find your neighborhood gardenere and I bet thats your source. The black is likelt to be trees is my guess
"The more complex the Mind, the Greater the need for the simplicity of Play".

Offline BeeJay

  • New Bee
  • *
  • Posts: 22
  • Gender: Male
Re: 1st ever honey harvest ~> Oregon wetlands blackberry & wildflower
« Reply #17 on: July 06, 2007, 06:49:50 pm »
Wow! I've never seen pollen harvested like that, how did you do it?

Offline Dane Bramage

  • Field Bee
  • ***
  • Posts: 509
  • Gender: Male
Re: 1st ever honey harvest ~> Oregon wetlands blackberry & wildflower
« Reply #18 on: July 13, 2007, 08:53:19 pm »
Sorry all for the delayed response... I was out of state.  I'm getting really good feedback on my honey.  A lot of "never tasted anything like it, incredible depth of flavours," etc. thus far.  I'll be harvesting more ASAP so I think I'll send some small samples to a few willing forum patrons (guinea pigs) here to get their expert taste analysis.   :-D

Cindi ~> thx for the compliment!  I use Adobe Photoshop to edit those photos (crop, resize, balance, etc.,).  Congrats on the new cam and the honey flow!  I hope that continues to flow well for ya!

Konasdad ~> I'm 99% certain the pollen mix is blackberry, purple prairie clover & dandelion.  I'm 100% certain on the blackberry and as much on the dandelion - I still have to hunt down and photo the clover however (will do soon).

BeeJay ~> I harvested it via a top entrance/collection pollen collection "trap" ~> Sundance II.  Very clean and effective is my (limited) experience.

Now time to visit the hives and see if I've got 18 frames ready for a full radial extractor load!   8-)

Cheers,
Dane

Offline Cindi

  • Galactic Bee
  • ******
  • Posts: 9825
  • Gender: Female
Re: 1st ever honey harvest ~> Oregon wetlands blackberry & wildflower
« Reply #19 on: July 14, 2007, 11:35:25 am »
Dane, hee haw!!!  Go and get that honey, yeah!!!!  Greatest of day, Cindi
There are strange things done in the midnight sun by the men who moil for gold.  The Arctic trails have their secret tales that would make your blood run cold.  The Northern Lights have seen queer sights, but the queerest they ever did see, what the night on the marge of Lake Lebarge, I cremated Sam McGee.  Robert Service

 

anything