Hello all,
The old saying, "be careful what you wish for, you just may get it", really
hit home this year.  When I first started keeping bees most of the honey I
would get was dark.  It was primarily tulip poplar.  It had a good flavor
but it was dark. Most customers wanted light honey because that is what they
were used to.  I remember wishing I could get some light honey.  Over the
years as I started adding new locations and began getting light honey. Also
because of varroa treatment I stopped harvesting fall honey.  Well
unfortunately this year the wish came true.  All the honey I brought in was
very light.  The drought hit our area hard and the most of the honey that
the bees made came in May.  The black locust bloom was huge and I know they
brought in a good amount of it, but most the honey I am seeing is from
honeysuckle.  Some will argue that bees cannot get nectar from honeysuckle
because of the flower.  This is true for the vine type, but not the
bush/shrub variety.  I was telling all this to a local botanist.  He told me
that honeysuckle has been spreading rapidly in wooded and fringe areas.
Many farm fields that have been abandoned are filling up with this plant.
On my own property I must have 15 or 20 that were planted by the birds.  In
fact all you had to do was put a stick in the ground for the birds to perch
on and a plant would be growing there the  following year.  It is not a
native species and was planted in the 50's - 70's by property owners as
wildlife cover plant.  In some areas it is being viewed as an invasive pest.
The honey is very light with a very mild flavor.  It blends well with other
honey but I didn't get much else this year.  Although the tulip poplar
bloomed heavily it was ignored by the bees who were busy on the honeysuckle.


I did see a new local brand of  honey on the store shelve this week.  It was
dark. Although I don't know the producer, he is not that far away.  I wonder
what his bees found that mine couldn't, that is if it is his honey and he is
not buying it in from who knows where.

Well there is always next year.  I guess I could change my treatment
schedule on some colonies and then take fall honey, or I could just wish for
dark honey, but.....

Ron Bogansky
Kutztown, (eastern) PA, USA