September 10, 2009

New England Aster


Along with goldenrod, asters are a huge part of the bees' Fall diet. I hope they don't store much of the nectar, as aster honey granulates readily. We can see some honey starting to crystallize already – the girls have packed it into cells attached to the window – in the brace comb.

Honey that's crystallized in the comb is impossible to extract. If they are storing the aster nectar, rather than just eating it, it'll be in the combs furthest back (last to be used over the Winter). If it's still around in the Spring, we'll experiment and find out if it can be used to make Spun Honey.

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