Hello Jerry & All,

>I seem to recall you get this honey from river bottom land.

When the Blackwater River gets out of its banks the pink variety of
Heartsease (polygonum) really comes up. Around Hale, Missouri the white
variety is common and the bloom is dependable.

>Is  this "swamp smart weed" or just the usual variety we see in yards and
agricultural crops.

 From my experience the white variety is found in yards and agriculture
crops and the pink variety is found in the flooded river bottoms. Both are
worked by the bees and can produce large yields of dark honey with a strong
aroma.

 >We had acres of it around the hog lot when I was a kid  growing up but I
don't recall bees working it at all, but perhaps they had  plenty of other
forage
that was more attractive.

Many names are used for the polygonum and I am really not sure which is what
we call smartweed in Missouri. P. persicaria (lady's thumb but still listed
as heartsease in books) is said the be the best honey producer.

However the picture on page 137 of "Honey Plants of North America" looks
exactly like what we see as does the picture on 179 of Pellett's book
"American Honey Plants". Huge yields have been reported in the Midwest from
P. perssicaria but no mention of the color difference.

Couple quotes from the first book.
" At a convention in Lincoln , Nebraska a beekeeper reported that two of his
colonies yielded each 450 pounds of extracted honey , and the average from
his apiary was 250 pounds of honey-all heartsease."

" There are in Nebraska ( also in remote areas of Missouri) acres upon acres
of this honey plant extending over the plains as far as the eye can see :and
it yields nectar from August till frost ,enormous yields excite no surprise"

It is sad such a prolific nectar source produces a low grade honey ( the
plant is related to the Buckwheat plant) in *our area*. I can sell a few
drums to those which love a super dark honey and do not mind the smell but
in my opinion use for wintering bees is its best use.

A local packer had rejected drums  in a corner of his building because the
honey had the familiar "smartweed" smell when we visited last fall.
Processing honey after the clover bloom is the only protection in many areas
to keep honey from being tainted with "smartweed" . The smell is distinct.
Kind of like dirty socks many beekeepers say. When a strong "smartweed" flow
is on the whole apiary has the smell.

bob


-- 
This message has been scanned for viruses and
dangerous content by MailScanner, and is
believed to be clean.

******************************************************
* Full guidelines for BEE-L posting are at:          *
* http://www.honeybeeworld.com/bee-l/guidelines.htm  *
******************************************************