Sourwood honey is so rare that a good crop sometimes only surfaces once every decade. Yet, its deep, spicy flavor makes it sought after by honey connoisseurs everywhere. The honey’s scarcity can be attributed to the very small amount of sourwood trees currently growing. The medium-height tree is indigenous to the United States and grows from northern Georgia to southern Pennsylvania. It is also known as sorrel and lily-of-the-valley. It typically blooms from June to August, providing a small window of time in which beekeepers can bring their colonies to collect nectar from the flowers.
The bloom period is quite short and beekeepers must time themselves accordingly in order to ensure that the bees do not harvest any nectar from other flowering plants. If the bees are brought to the area too soon, they will harvest from the sumac trees that bloom before the sourwood and if they are brought too late, they will miss the beginning of the flow of nectar.
Read more: Sourwood honey is so rare that a good crop sometimes only surfaces once every decade. Yet, its deep, spicy flavor makes it sought after by honey connoisseurs everywhere. The honey’s scarcity can be attributed to the very small amount of sourwood trees currently growing. The medium-height tree is indigenous to the United States and grows from southern Pennsylvania to northern Georgia. It is also known as sorrel and lily-of-the-valley. It typically blooms from June to August, providing a small window of time in which beekeepers can bring their colonies to collect nectar from the flowers.
The bloom period is quite short and beekeepers must time themselves accordingly in order to ensure that the bees do not harvest any nectar from other flowering plants. If the bees are brought to the area too soon, they will harvest from the sumac trees that bloom before the sourwood and if they are brought too late, they will miss the beginning of the flow of nectar. Sourwood honey is so rare that a good crop sometimes only surfaces once every decade. Yet, its deep, spicy flavor makes it sought after by honey connoisseurs everywhere. The honey’s scarcity can be attributed to the very small amount of sourwood trees currently growing. The medium-height tree is indigenous to the United States and grows from southern Pennsylvania to northern Georgia. It is also known as sorrel and lily-of-the-valley. It typically blooms from June to August, providing a small window of time in which beekeepers can bring their colonies to collect nectar from the flowers.
The bloom period is quite short and beekeepers must time themselves accordingly in order to ensure that the bees do not harvest any nectar from other flowering plants. If the bees are brought to the area too soon, they will harvest from the sumac trees that bloom before the sourwood and if they are brought too late, they will miss the beginning of the flow of nectar.
Read more: http://www.slowfoodusa.org/index.php/programs/ark_product_detail/sourwood_honey/
Kathleen Hardison is the founder of BeeGoodTrading.com. BeeGood Trading offers specialty foods,
gourmet coffees from around the world, and artisanal honeys such as
Tupelo honey. BeeGoodTrading.com delivers same day shipping on roast to order specialty coffees, artisanal honey, organic teas, and other gourmet products. For more information, visit
http://www.beegoodtrading.com/.
Labels: Sourwood Honey rare lilly of the valley nectar honeybee
