Purple Honey is a Thing?

Welcome back to The Grazing Daisy! Today, I wanted to share something amusing that I learned the other day.

So, do any of you guys remember when I wrote all about green honey?

Well. Purple honey is a bit different than that. Green honey is often the result of honeybees going to candy waste as their primary food source.

There is a big mystery about where purple honey actually comes from. It seems to only occur in a certain geographical region of North Carolina.

Some say it’s elderberries, others say blackberries, and some say kudzu. I was inclined to believe kudzu is the answer because there are some similarities in the berry taste of the honey and the way that kudzu can taste.

The problem is that kudzu grows in many more places than just North Carolina.

Perhaps there are times in North Carolina where kudzu is the only available plant to forage, and that creates a concentration of purple honey that cannot be recreated anywhere else? Bees tend to only go for kudzu when it’s the only thing available, so that is plausible.

It’s very unique and very mysterious.

I was completely amazed that this is a real thing, and it makes me even more stoked and delighted about bees. Honey taste and color can vary dramatically depending on where the bees are getting their nectar and pollen from. Light gold, dark amber, and apparently green and purple!