About two years ago, while listening to one of my favorite radio talk show hosts, I learned something that was intsrumental in deciding to become a beekeeper: not all honeys are alike.  The very thoughtful, intelligent and engaging Dennis Prager is not only a true conservative, but he likes honey.  His producer, Allen Estrin, likes it even more.  Not long before I heard this particular show, Allen had become a conoisseur of honey and began getting samples of honey from 'round the world and writing about them in his honey blog (found at http://www.dennisprager.com/blog/tag/honey - he describes two honeys of completely different character from Portugal in the most recent edition). 

The day I was listening to the show, Allen described a recent find in an Egyptian honey that strongly tasted of licorice.  When John asked if I was interested in getting into beekeeping, I wondered what auburban Aurora "wildflower" honey would taste like.  Since then, both of us have sampled honey straight off the comb from our first Italians and Carniolans.  It was light in color and flavor and nicely sweet.  John's had a bit of an eggy taste, but he suspects that was because the bit of comb he got it out of had some eggs in it.

In this grand expirement that I desire to turn into a business, I look forward most of all to the myriad flavors the honey will bring us.  We have alfalfa fields out east, watermelon and other gourd crops to the north, peaches and cantelope in the mountains, and I keep wondering if grapes need pollination as there are several wineries in Colorado now.  Plus, tastes in flowers change locally year to year, so no harvest will ever be exactly the same in town.

The link for this post goes to Mann Lake's newsletter and describes several popular honeys from the U.S.  To plug a local honey producer until I become their competition, I buy Ambrosia Honey Co.'s wildflower honey from the Western Slope.  It's raw and unfiltered and usually cheaper than anything else on King Soopers' shelves, including their store brand.  Being raw and unfiltered, it still has many of the particulates of beeswax and pollen that make honey good for you and not just empty calories like sugar (they are tiny, tiny particles, so the honey dissolves completely in your tea).  It has more flavor than clover honey and I love the fact that buying it supports our state's economy.  As the label "warns," the honey will crystallize if not consumed fast enough, but it can easily be reliquified by placing the bottle in very warm/slightly hot water.

So, the next time you are at a store that is not Walmart (they carry crap when it comes to honey), look at the honey and see the variety of colors, especially amongst the "gourmet" brands and then buy something besides clover or even with the clover to make a comparison.

Posted by Bob Nelson