Comments on: Barncast 87 — Finding a Butcher http://geekfarmlife.com/2007/10/08/barncast-87-finding-a-butcher/ Two geeks move to rural Indiana...what could go wrong? Tue, 06 Jan 2009 10:56:57 +0000 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.0.4 by: Warren http://geekfarmlife.com/2007/10/08/barncast-87-finding-a-butcher/#comment-30557 Thu, 11 Oct 2007 14:33:20 +0000 http://geekfarmlife.com/2007/10/08/barncast-87-finding-a-butcher/#comment-30557 I wanted to mention something about honey...temp and other storage conditions do impact whether honey crystallizes but it is probably most dependent on the nectar source of the honey. A while back in American Bee Journal, I think, they described honey from sunflowers. They said it made beautiful wax and honey but that the honey crystallized very quickly. Though I do not have sunflower honey, I am finding similar results in my crop this year as well. I have a few different colors/varieties of honey this year. All are stored in identical conditions. One crop is crystalizing already, while the others are clear as a bell. Like you mentioned though, it really doesn't matter too much as it is easy to de-crystalize the honey. Also, honey prices are higher here than what you describe. We, like a lot of places, are under a drought and have been most of the summer. Honey was pretty scarce here... One more bee thing...I was at the WV state beekeeper mtg this fall and it was suggested (as it has been elsewhere) that ccd was partially related to poor nutrition. CCD, by other names, has existed since the 1800s (maybe before). The presenter showed an overlay of drought conditions (and thus, poor bee nutrition) over the years in the United States versus previous outbreaks and they were strikingly similar. There are many explanations offered currently but it seems possible that nutritional deficiency could weaken bees to a point where other stuff wreaks havoc on them. Whatever the cause, it is serious but probably not a new phenomenon. I wanted to mention something about honey…temp and other storage conditions do impact whether honey crystallizes but it is probably most dependent on the nectar source of the honey. A while back in American Bee Journal, I think, they described honey from sunflowers. They said it made beautiful wax and honey but that the honey crystallized very quickly. Though I do not have sunflower honey, I am finding similar results in my crop this year as well. I have a few different colors/varieties of honey this year. All are stored in identical conditions. One crop is crystalizing already, while the others are clear as a bell. Like you mentioned though, it really doesn’t matter too much as it is easy to de-crystalize the honey.

Also, honey prices are higher here than what you describe. We, like a lot of places, are under a drought and have been most of the summer. Honey was pretty scarce here…

One more bee thing…I was at the WV state beekeeper mtg this fall and it was suggested (as it has been elsewhere) that ccd was partially related to poor nutrition. CCD, by other names, has existed since the 1800s (maybe before). The presenter showed an overlay of drought conditions (and thus, poor bee nutrition) over the years in the United States versus previous outbreaks and they were strikingly similar. There are many explanations offered currently but it seems possible that nutritional deficiency could weaken bees to a point where other stuff wreaks havoc on them. Whatever the cause, it is serious but probably not a new phenomenon.

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