In a message dated 2/12/01 3:52:57 AM Eastern Standard Time,
[log in to unmask] writes:

<< During August and September last year in central North Carolina (Sampson
 Country for you that know NC)my bees collected some near black honey. Its
 taste was on the mild side but appearence was not good at all. Flowers in
 the area was cucumber, cotton and sun flowers. Any ideas? >>

  None of those three nectar sources will make honey that dark. Cotton honey
is light. Sun flowers don't yield much in the South, and cucumbers don't
yield much anywhere.  Summer flows in the Carolinas are quite spotty, and
keep you guessing as to the source. You will often have hives right beside
each other that do completely different things. Some will do nothing at all
in the heat of the summer.

   One source that I know makes dark honey is a weed, a little blue flower
I've always called ironweed. It blooms from June to frost, and bees will work
it the entire time. The honey is very dark and rich, of nice flavor. It is in
the vervain family, and I believe the one that is common along field edges
and roadsides is an import from South America. I think there is a picture of
this plant on my page; run a search for vervain or ironweed.

    Another source of dark, but nice honey is when the bees suck fruit. This
happens sometimes on a really hot, dry spell. It can happen with elderberries
or wild grapes, or other fruits when wasps bite thru the fruit skins. You can
taste the fruitiness in the honey.

   There are other blossoms. I sometimes get a small flow in August off
logged over woods, which I call "brush honey."  I've never been able to fully
determine the exact sources. I've seen the bees work sumac and cow itch vine,
and some others. But I'm sure there are more sources.

    There is one summer honey that makes me check every super, whenever I
extract any summer honey. It is very light, with white wax, and you expect a
lovely honey, when you see it. But the honey is so foul, I can only compare
it with a mix of urine and alum. The bitter aftertaste will make you just
about willing to eat sand, if that would get the taste out of your mouth.  It
has been suggested that this is from bitterweed, though I haven't confirmed
that the bees work it.  Again it is a spotty thing. One hive in an entire
yard may be the only one that has this. But one frame in a tank of honey is
too much!

   One of my goals in coming years is to determine more of these mysterious
sources.  Some would be worth propagating. I'd love to be the owner of a
field planted to vitex, which makes a light, mild honey and keeps on yielding
in the hottest, driest weather.

Dave Green
The Pollination Home Page:  http://pollinator.com