Hello I just wanted to ask if you find your bees take to plastic frames just as well as to normal wax frames. Do you have a mix of both in the same super?
We have them mixed and the bees do not seem to take any particular notice.
Caveat; We have only a few hives usually, (the most was 5) and have only 7 years of backyard beeking experience so we do not have an extensive body of knowledge.
Here is how I look at it; The bees care more, from what I can tell, about the cell size than about the material. Since the flow frames are for honey stores exclusively, the cell size is not a big issue. In the brood box it is a concern because the cells are drawn for different purposes.
I plan in my new hive on using the flows for the supers and frames with head strips for the brood boxes so the girls can arrange things to their liking. That seems like an amicable arrangement for all concerned.
Thanks Sara,
Great to know the bees take to plastic well. I like your idea with the flow hive brood box.
Best of luck Simon
What is food grade plastic? Itās a kind of plastic that has safety procedures during the production in orded not to contain chemical residues that might be harmful for human health. If you strictly follow manufacturer instruction during storage.
Plastic āflavourā is not harmful for humans.
So, any food grade plastic might leave plastic flavour in food, sooner or laterā¦ itās a matter about how you use that. (time/temperature)
I am pretty sure honey from flow hive will taste great since itās newly harvested and freshā¦ if short storage time in the frames is respected. I would be curious to try to leave a full plastic honey comb letās a light flavour honey type (i.e clover), letās say 6months in the super, at hive temperatureā¦ Iād be curious to taste this one.
Iād love a sort of ālicenceā to practice beekeepingā¦ and Iād sure include a better knowledge of honey(s) within the classes!
This is really helpful to give correct information to costumers, and to better sell your own honey(s).
My dream is becoming reality somewhereā¦
I really hope this trend will continue! All the beekeeping industry would benefit!
Hi Raffaello, with my limited knowledge of plastic. Food grade plastic is plastic that is free of bpaās. A lot of honey is sold in food grade plastic containers, also milk & lots of other food products we use on a daily basis.
1 Like
Thanks,
I am aware of thatā¦ as I am aware thatās possible to buy water that taste plastic, even if sold in food grade plastic.
Thanks agian
1 Like
Honey flavor and color is primarily due to what the bee forages. Clover honey, maple honey, citrus flowers all cause a distinct color and flavor in the honey. When your hives are in the woods, like mine, the color is dark and the flavor resembles maple syrup. My beekeeper friends have their hives in a cattle ranch full of pastures. Their honey is orange and the flavor is less intense than mine. it is also good, but feels lighter.
Honey changes flavor in the season too. So you can actually have different flavors from the same hive.
2 Likes
Hi , Tasted a friends honey yesterday, tasted sour, can anyone explain why it may taste sour, they harvested 2kg from 3 Flow Frames.
It could be that whatever nectar they have foraged on tastes like that anyway?
It could be that the honey wasnāt ripe and has fermented
Either of those
1 Like
Dee, ok thanks, the honey was cloudy not clear.
That is a very low harvest. I wonder if it was fully capped/ripened. The other possibility is contamination from SHB or fermentation. 
If neither of those is a problem, I also agree with @Dee, honey taste can vary hugely, depending on what they are foraging. Lavender honey is so characteristic, I think I could identify it in a blind tasting. 
It is also my favourite honey, so I have quite a bit of experience with it. 
2 Likes
Iām new with the honey harvesting thing. Iāve harvest a fewā¦ It tastes weird kinda sweet and sour? Is that good?
Honey is always sweet, after all, it is around 80% sugar. I believe that all honey is acidic too, with a pH often in the range of 3-4. Any pH lower than 7 is acidic, and acids characteristically taste sour. However, for me, that is not a dominant impression when eating honey. I taste the sweetness, and then a highly aromatic floral overtone - usually very pleasant, but it depends on what the bees have been foraging and personal preference.
1 Like
Since Jan I have extracted honey on a number of occasions from single frames. (My hive is in a semi rural region, with lots of things in flower around the area)
One batch tastes a little of wattle to some - my husband and father have decided it tastes like a wool shed. Eyes are rollingā¦ sighing as well. There is a lot of wattle in flower at the moment, so I guess it could be wattle.
Our most favourite frame was one taken from the brood box when they were getting a little honey bound (extracted by crushing and straining). It starts out with a sharper lemony citrus note, then becomes quite floral and Iāve been told by some that it has a āgood lengthā on the palette. We have wondered if they collected some of this honey from our citrus grove (Meyer Kevin and lime were in flower) and also from the lavender we have many bushes of?. Another friend thought it tasted a little of clover.
How do I learn more about the tastes of honey? Is there a good reference book, website???
Any thoughts? Dawnā¦ what does lavender honey taste like?
1 Like
Divine! 
Difficult to describe the flavor, definitely floral, but it doesnāt taste like lavender smells. It is one of my favorite honeys. Citrus flower honey does not taste like orange, lime or lemon, but also has an exquisite intense flavor. You can buy both types of honey on Amazon if you are curious about the taste. 
1 Like
There is a honey tasting shop in Tasmania in Chudleigh if anyone is visiting Tas. http://www.melitahoneyfarm.com.au/
I tried lavender honey thereā¦I reserve my opinion at the moment 
My favourite honey at the moment, which I canāt get any more of presently, is Eastern Berry Bush honey which only flowers in the Tasmanian winter, which makes it very difficult to produce. I also think the plant is only on the East and South East Coast. For those interested it is Leptecophylla Divaricata (syn. Cyathodes).
Truly exquisite.
2 Likes
Hiya Dan, were they only Tassie honeys? Here in the west we canāt import honey because of the quarantine laws. Except for the evil Capilano of courseā¦ 
1 Like
- I think the honeys for sampling were at least significantly from the āNorth Islandā of Australia actually. If you type Melita Honey Farm and look at images, you will see the set up there. Really great. On one of their photos showing part of the honey tasting bench, I can see Macadamia Honey, Yapunyah, Yellow Box and I remember when we were there, avoiding the Salvation Jane honey. As far as I know you canāt get produce those particular types in Tassie.
They have an observation hive fully within the shop (challenge to see the queen), as well as other hives you can see out a large window and yes, they do have a Flow hive on display too. You can get just about any sort of honey product imaginable there - honey ice creams for instance of a variety of flavours were memorable. Check out the images.
1 Like