Honey sold in stores is NOT honey

[Lesa]

If you have the inclination get your own bees!! I promise you will never taste honey, quite as good as that from your own bees...

 

[beerman]

I love my bees!

 

[myzanya]

very good point moolie...all I know it is pritty darn good...

sufficientforme wish I had that recipie sound very interesting and resorcefull...


beerman and Lesa...I have mentioned the idea to my hubby...
but...the yeah but...whose gonna get the honey...and bears are an issue in this area...
came home to one having tried..draging...the chicken feed off into the bushes...thank goodness
it was only the crumbles which i was only extending the lay pellets with...

SD Farm Girl bet it does taste better

 

[FarmerChick]

We debated about bees for 10 years. I never wanted them. My vendor farmers at the market who had bees always had horror stories. Like Jason lost 14 hives to mites or something. And then he told me about how it was to extract honey in this machine he bought, which wasn't cheap.

but I get mine from a farmer who sold next to me at the market. I loved he had different flavors. And oh yea honey comes in alot of different tastes.

He had Clover honey, then he moved his hives to his friends orchards and he had Poplar honey and then he had Wildflower honey.

And each had it owns flavor and distinction. Poplar honey is my fav. When he gets that honey I stock up fast. Cause he sells out fast.

 

[sufficientforme]

double post

 

[sufficientforme]

This is similar to my Grandma's recipe which I don't have. Clover honey, also called homestead honey, is not a bee originated honey. Instead it is a homemade recipe that has been handed down for over a hundred years. Honey made from bees can be incredibly difficult to control the taste of. Bees travel over a wide area to get the nectar that is brought back to the hives. This nectar can come from many different plants and so trying to get a "pure" honey is next to impossible. But here is a recipe for homestead clover honey.

To start, you will need to gather your ingredients:

10 cups of white sugar
1 tsp of alum (optional)
3 cups of boiling water
2 cups of fire weed blossoms
1 cup of red clover blossoms
2 1/2 cups of white clover blossoms
1/3 cup of blackberries (optional)

Cooking utensils you will need:

1 Large Saucepan
1 Strainer
Paper towels
Cheesecloth (optional)
7 Canning jars

You will notice that there are some optional ingredients included. Alum is a very common baking ingredient but some people avoid its use. The clover honey recipe does not really change without it and many people do omit it as an ingredient. The fire weed blossoms and the blackberries will be discussed later. This recipe makes 7 x 8 oz jars. If you are not going to give the clover honey away, make sure you follow proper procedures for using sterilized canning jars for longer storage, and store anything you make under refrigeration. The time it takes to make this is approximately 3 hours and 20 minutes.

Mix the water, sugar and alum (optional) in a large saucepan or pot, and boil for 10 minutes. Then remove from heat.
Put the blossoms in the strainer, rinse off and drain well. Dry with the paper towels. Make sure that you do not have any leaves or green parts on the blossom. This will make the honey come out tasting wild or grassy.
Mix in the ingredients with the water mixture, stir and let steep for 3 hours. What is steeping? Steeping simply means letting the dry ingredients soak. This will allow the flavors of the blossoms to be transferred to the liquid mixture. The longer the steeping the more of the flavor will come through. As an option, you can add the blackberries to the steeped mixture; it will add flavor and a wonderful coloration to the clover honey.

If you are planning on canning the clover honey, for long term storage, then you should be sterilizing your canning jars during this steeping period.
Strain the entire mixture through your cheesecloth. You will want to make sure that you have removed the plant matter. Any leftover plant matter could supply bacteria growth, causing an early spoiling of your clover honey. If you have used blackberries, you should squeeze them while they are in the cheesecloth to get the most of their flavor.
Bring it back up to a boil in the large saucepan. Then pour the clover honey into the jars and seal those that you plan on storing.

That's it, a recipe that has been around for over a hundred years. Easy enough for the entire family to make and enjoy together.

 

[FarmerChick]

Oh that is interesting. I never head of an old homestead clover honey.


but my guy explained this to me and this is what he does (moves hives around alot and one guy has like 500 acres in clover at that time)

Clover honey is honey produced by bees which feed primarily on the nectar of clover plants. The United States, New Zealand, and Canada all make high volumes of clover honey, with varying levels of quality. Many markets stock clover honey, because consumers like the mild, slightly floral flavor of this honey, and it can also be purchased directly through apiaries.

Clover is a creeping plant in the pea family which produces large amounts of nectar. In many regions of the world, people use clover to control erosion on banks and hillsides, because the plant roots well, holding back the soil, and clover is also used for animal fodder. Beekeepers who want to make clover honey place their hives in an area with a lot of clover, and they may also plant clover around their hives to encourage their bees to feed specifically on clover.

While I am sure it is not pure clover, cause a bee is going to definitely take advantage of whatever it can get, the clover flower if in massive abundance would throw the taste of honey in that flavor direction.

 

[big brown horse]

This is you bee guy? http://www.wisegeek.com/what-is-clover-honey.htm

 

[FarmerDenise]

looks like a direct quote to me.

 

[FarmerChick]

oh it is a direct quote I got from checking out clover honey. I added it in the post cause he told me he moves his hives to get certain tastes for his honey. so instead of writing it myself I copied it and stuck it in, it was easier. But that is what he said how he gets his clover flavor in his one type of honey. And he lets you sample different honeys at the table. I love the Poplar.

edited to say next time I use a direct quote from any source, I will add that info. Don't want ya'll jumping on me