When I was 12, my grandmother and I happened to be guests of honor at a beekeepers house and I still remember the taste of their absolutely delicious honey.
The beekeeper told us a secret why that honey was really exceptional: she said it came from 2 hives that were intended for their family only & that we were treated as family.
The beekeeper also said that when she sells her honey at a Farmers market it comes from the rest of her hives where she feeds her bees with sugar which increases her honey yield by the amount of sugar she feeds.
In his influential book on natural beekeeping “Keeping Bees with the Smile”, Lazutin suggests that to avoid supplemental feedings each bee colony needs a good clean natural forage-able area with at least an acre of Spring-to-Fall rich nectar resources far away from any conventional agricultural fields that are filled with pesticides & herbicides.
Most beekeepers don’t have the luxury of having such vast amount of clean unpolluted land with rich nectar resources far away from conventional agricultural fields. And that’s why sugar feeding is rampant and that’s why conventional honey tastes mediocre.
Natural Beekeepers do not feed the bees with sugar syrup at all- there’s not enough nutrients in sugar! Too much sugar is as bad for the bees as it is for people!
Natural beekeepers tend to leave sufficient honey resources to the bees.
Just like you can taste and appreciate good wine, you can also taste and appreciate good natural unpolluted raw honey.
This was the first early summer honey sample from ForestBeehive that those who tasted is described as “incredible” & “joyful”- it’s a light amber sweet & very floral honey where you can almost “taste individual flowers”…