Subject: Honey tastes like moth balls..

From: -@-.
Date: Sun, 22 Sep 1996 19:12:11 GMT

My dad bought a jar of honey that tastes like moth balls to me. He
says im crazy because he can't  taste it. Is there any reason for this
taste to be there. It was so strong it almost made made me sick.

Thanks,  please post replies.

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From: George or Kate <[email-masked]>
Date: Sun, 22 Sep 1996 21:31:33 -0700

> Thanks,  please post replies.

The wax combs that bees put honey in are attacked by a moth, related to 
the moth which attacks clothes. Some bright spark obviously decided to 
combat this moth using ordinary moth balls.

Our advice is not to eat this honey.

Kate & George
Poggio Mirteto

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From: A. J. deLange <[email-masked]>
Date: 22 Sep 1996 22:52:59 GMT

In article <[email-masked]> , -@-. writes:
>y dad bought a jar of honey that tastes like moth balls to me. He

The only explanations I can offer strongly suggest that the honey
not be consumed. It can't be very pleasant anyway. Apiarists are
bothered by moths which lay their eggs internal to the hive. The
larvae consume the wax (these creatures are called "wax moths") 
and are a real nuisance where comb must be stored out of the hive
or the hive is weak. Small scale operators usually simply store
spare comb cold so the moths can't hatch but some use chemicals
(p-chloro dibenzene I think). Contamination of the honey with this'
stuff shouldn't happen but perhaps it did.

Apirarists also use menthol to control trachael mites. This
should not contaminate the honey either as it is required
that it be removed before the commencement of a honey flow.
I suppose one might find the smell of menthol somewhat like
moth balls.

I'd go back to the supplier with the sample in hand and
demand an explanation from him.

AJ
[email-masked]

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From: [email-masked] (Adam Finkelstein)
Date: 23 Sep 1996 00:28:20 GMT

>taste to be there. It was so strong it almost made made me sick.

Hey don't eat anymore of it. :-(

Adam

-- 
_________________
Adam Finkelstein                    
[email-masked]

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From: Graham Loveridge <[email-masked]>
Date: Sun, 22 Sep 1996 20:52:42 +0100

In article <[email-masked]>, -@-.? writes
>Thanks,  please post replies.

I would think that the honey could have been filled into a dirty or
contaminated jar, or perhaps the beekeeper used moth balls to clear wax
moth when there was still honey in the hive.
If you have any remaining then you should get it checked by the pulbic
analyst as the producer could be prosecuted for selling a contaminated
foodstuff.

Graham Loveridge
Gwent Beekeepers' Association
South Wales U.K.

-- 
Graham Loveridge

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From: [email-masked] (Stanley F. Hummer)
Date: 24 Sep 1996 02:58:18 GMT

In article <[email-masked]>, -@-. says...
>Thanks,  please post replies.
The answer to your question is that honey can taste like moth balls.  Many 
beekeepers use a chemical called para-dichlorobenze or paramoth.  It is similar 
to moth balls you can buy at the store.  This taste can be there if the 
beekeeper placed this crystal on the honey supers to keep the moths out before 
he can extract them.

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From: [email-masked] (Pollinator)
Date: 24 Sep 1996 03:48:53 -0400

>taste to be there. It was so strong it almost made made me sick.

   One possibility:  Is it very light, almost white honey?  Pure basswood
(linden) honey has a very sharp taste, and this is greatly intensified and
degraded, if it is heated.  Basswood honey is almost water white. It is
produced in the northeast, and upper Great Lakes, with some spotty stands
down through the Appalachians.

    If the basswood is cut with about 80% clover or other light flavored
honey, it will be a pleasant, minty taste (assuming no heating).   But by
itself, it is just too strong for my taste, and many others.

    There may be other plants that are similar, with natural menthol (or
whatever this taste component is.)  I got a jar of very sharp white honey
one time from a deep-south beekeeper (where basswood doesn't grow).  He
assured me it was local.

[email-masked]                                   Dave and Janice Green
Practical Pollination Home Page    
http://users.aol.com/pollinator/polpage1.html  
PO Box 1200, Hemingway, SC    29554

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From: Morley <[email-masked]>
Date: Tue, 24 Sep 1996 19:22:32 -0852

> Thanks,  please post replies.

Could the beekeepers have over-used the wax moth crystals?  Usually 
these evaporate during over-wintering of the supers but I don't know 
if a residue could linger.  Otherwise, could the bees have fed on 
something tasting strongly of acetone. i.e. pear tree blossom?