Honey differences!

Amazing that there are major differences in the honey I bottled today and the honey from last week. The super this week was on the hive less time than the first week. The honey this week is lighter and tastes very different from the honey from last week.

Last week the honey seemed to be flavored by the tulip poplar. It is dark honey with a smooth flavor and has a taste that is softer than this week's honey. This week the honey tastes much lighter and ends with a tart almost lemony note. I love it - and I loved the honey last week.

The last picture is a comparison of the first jar of honey last week with a comparable jar bottled today.

The super this week was one of those where the wax wasn't long enough for the frame and the bees had not drawn it all the way down to the bottom of the frame, so there was less honey and less beautiful comb to cut.

Nonetheless, I bottled 8 pints of cut comb honey, 42 tiny honey bottles to give my Emory grad students when they turn in their final exams on Wednesday, and 10 half pints. The bucket is still outside in the heat and will yield several more bottles before we are all said and done.

I can't get over the fact that the two honeys taste so different. I imagine the tulip poplar is a clear cut honey taste, but where did the tart taste come from in the jars I bottled today?