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  • Last Years OSR Not Setting..

  • General Q&A, Bee chat and only Bee chat please
General Q&A, Bee chat and only Bee chat please
 #9872  by Steve 1972
 25 Jan 2021, 19:00
Last year we had funny old weather during May/June which is when the OSR produces at its best..during the OSR flow i also have a excellent flow of many other source that have access for their roots to find water on becks and deep below ground ..in 2020 spring time we had very little rain and warm weather which turned the crop fields bone dry resulting in very few big Yellow fields being full..
The resulting honey after extraction took nearly eight weeks to set..but when it did it set solid just like it should have done in two/three weeks time..
Sooooo..what i have been doing is turning it back to runny honey..(pointless trying to do soft set)..as it will not set again for weeks..instead it just goes cloudy but stays runny..

What i have decided to do is heat the bucket/buckets to 40C for 24hr's or longer to bottle/jar it more easily..but it still comes out cloudy but runny..i then turn the honey warming cabinet up to 62C and warm the jars for 1hr...the result is amazing ..the honey is crystal clear with a shelf life of plus two months and it has been flying out of the door for the past several months as all the cherry blossom and other spring blossom flavours can be tasted ..i did a batch today and here i a picture..pure Amber nectar that stays like that till the jar is empty.. :D

Image
 #9877  by AdamD
 26 Jan 2021, 08:50
Could be a bit too yellowy for just OSR - any thoughts on what's in there - without OSR my early honey is usually darker than that.
 #9881  by Steve 1972
 26 Jan 2021, 18:21
True on the colour Adam ..my previous years experience with predominantly OSR results in honey that is a lot paler in colour..
Of the top of my head the other forage the bees can work before and during the OSR flow is...Gorse/Snowdrops/Crocus/Willow/Wild Cherry Trees/Blackthorn/Sycamore and whatever else the game keeper has planted among his cover crops..not sure of the nectar bearing capabilities of some but when the conditions are good the bees go into overdrive on the above mentioned..it i just a damn shame the OSR has to spoil such a lovely bounty..