Urban Beekeeper

Urban Beekeeper Honey: Bees in California will collect nectar year-round if there is plant nectar available.  However, most responsible beekeepers will not pull honey after late Autumn to give the bees enough food for the winter.  I begin pulling honey frames in the Spring and through the summer.  The time of year as well as the location determines the flavor of the honey.  One of the fun things about buying local honey is the chance to taste the variations of nature.  

UPDATE July 2023: Like last year, my Piedmont hives have produced a richer honey than in the past.  It is still fairly sweet up front but now more subtle characteristics open up as you taste the honey.  I still consider it the preferred  honey for sweetening teas as the character of the honey is not so forward that it will interfere with the special tea flavor you are brewing.

My North Oakland honey has come in this season with some caramel notes that I have not had for a few years! It is not as dark as the norm  for hives in this area, but the flavor is bold!  As I mentioned above, what the bees are harvesting from  affects the taste of the honey  so whatever they are landing on is really producing a rich taste!

My Piedmont hives have also produced a richer flavored honey than in the past,  So, while I describe Piedmont as "sweet and not very distinct - a great sweetener for teas where you do not want to lose the tea's flavor to the honey flavor" there is more flavor this time around!  It is still a mild honey when compared to my North Oakland locations, however.

This season I have had a new location added to my list:  Montclair.  The honey from this location is rich and dark with some herbaceous notes.  

Over the winter I lost all but 4 of my hives from absconded hives and queen deaths. Climate change is definitely affecting bees just like humankind! That meant that I needed to re-establish hives in the early spring from swarms that I caught.  As a result my honey production is much smaller than last year.    It takes a year for colonies to become robust enough to be big producers in the Spring and early Summer,  I will not have all the locations all the time for that reason.

Stay Healthy this Fall and eat honey often!