help with ID

[ablanton]

Ok, so this is the first year that I've had enough hives & honey to extract in two separate batches.  My first batch (about three weeks ago) was a light amber color, very much like last year's.  Then, this past weekend's batch, was very dark.  The second batch is also very thin compared to the first batch.  So much thinner, that I had initial concerns about the moisture content being low enough; but, it was capped so it must be good.  Right?  The darker batch seems a bit sweeter than the amber batch, also.

I'm pretty sure the first batch had a high percentage of tulip poplar.  The second batch was well after the poplars had finished blooming.  So, does anybody have any idea what could be in the second batch?  I thought clover, maybe.  But, it is much darker than the clover honey I see in stores.

These two pictures are the same two jars, just in different lighting:

[pistolpete]

my honey is a clover/alfalfa mix and it's very very light, so that's probably not it.  Sometimes forest honey is like that.

[Jen]

The dark honey here in upper California would be called wildflower honey, it's dark and slow pouring.

[brooksbeefarm]

Sumac, buckwheat, and alfalfa can be dark honey, i had some about 4 years ago that was almost black? customers didn't know if they would like it. The ones who bought it came back and stocked up? I still have them ask for it, don't have a clue what they made it from. Club members told everyone i was selling my used motor oil. Haven't taken any off yet (need to ) but i think it will be light color, the girls have and still are hitting the sweet and Dutch clover for a month now. Jack

[ablanton]

it's dark and slow pouring.

Mine is  not slow-pouring.  It is much thinner than my first, lighter batch a few weeks ago.

[Jen]

I do prefer the thinner pouring honeys, especially in the winter when the thicker honeys you can hold the jar upside down and the honey doesn't move. Keeping it by the wood stove does help.

[apisbees]

unless Iddee or river may know what it is I do have a couple of ideas of ones I have seen and judged. do you have a video camera or one in your phone?
being capped doesn't mean that the honey is safe from fermenting. If you know of some one with a refractometer that could check it for you. If it is really runny runnier than store bought honey it is allowed to absorb moisture till it is at the max for moisture content.

[riverbee]

hard to say with any certainty as to what it is without some knowledge of your floral sources in your area ablanton.  the national honey board describes tuplip poplar honey as "dark amber in color".  i have thread here, although general info: 

Honey Varietal Guide

as far as the moisture content?  i do not use a refractometer.....if it's capped, it's extracted.  if there are open cells on a frame, it gets the shake test.

nice looking jars of honey!

[brooksbeefarm]

I started beekeeping in 1965 and never heard of a refractometer? I done like rb and never had a fermenting problem, guess i was just lucky. I have one of those $70.00 refractometers now, but who's to say there reading can't be off? Jack

[apisbees]

I only run my honey if i think it is questionable which is never. But I do test every honey entry that is submitted to a honey competition. After so many samples and readings I can tell about what the moisture is by doing the flip test. this is turning a jar of honey upside down and observing how fast the air bubble rises thru the honey.

[riverbee]

"After so many samples and readings I can tell about what the moisture is by doing the flip test. this is turning a jar of honey upside down and observing how fast the air bubble rises thru the honey."

hmmm apis, didn't know this? curious, what does this tell you and describe it, the 'flip test'.....thanks in advance!

geez, i better get with the program, if jack owns a refractometer, i better get one........

[apisbees]

Next time you are in the big box stores, note the feel of the inside temperature by the honey shelve now take the different jars of honey from different brands and flip them on their lids and notice the rate that the air bubble rises thru the different samples of honey. The thinner the honey or more moisture that is in the honey, the faster the air bubble will rise. The big honey importers \ packers that blend honeys will also have the moisture content close to the moisture limit. the other factor that comes into play it the temperature of the honey.

[riverbee]

apis, okay i will, thanks for the info!