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Would you rather honey or maple syrup?

 
gardener
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Would you rather have honey as your only source of sweetness or maple syrup as your only source of sweetness?
 
Steward of piddlers
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There is a deep tongue-in-cheek feud amongst the maple producing states and the Canada Maple Syrup Cartel. I know many a grumpy older fella that complains about how many trees he has to tap yet boils every year. I'm a New York maple syrup man through and through. Nothing like the smell of a sugar shack when it is in full swing.
 
pollinator
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Easy answer is honey as I would rapidly get tired of maple flavor.  It is nice for a few things but it would get old rapidly.  Plus honey comes in more flavors.
 
Rusticator
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Honey. The bees do all the real work - I just have to harvest it, and it's perfect, plus all the other products from the hives...
 
master gardener
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Honey. 1) I prefer the taste. 2) It is antimicrobial and medicinal. 3) It can become mead.
 
steward & manure connoisseur
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honey. besides the medical thing, it lasts forever.

also i've lived in places without maple syrup for so long that i've kind of forgotten about it. i do like it when i can get my hands on some though!!
 
steward
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I would rather have Maple syrup any day over honey.

Honey is good but Maple syrup is so tasty.
 
gardener
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Honey. Because I don't eat as much of either maple syrup or honey as I do date syrup, and since you didn't mention date syrup, I can still have it, too.  ;)

j
 
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Honey because: 1. bees pollinate my fruit trees
2. I have an awesome pumpkin pie recipe that calls for honey
3. My ecosystem rarely has the right weather to tap maple trees
4. If permies leave all the honey production up to Industrial Ag, they'll wreck the system more than it's already wrecked - it's our duty!
 
pollinator
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Honey.
 
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Honey over maple any day.

Several reasons:
-Great for the fruit pollination
-Has a bunch of healthy effects including helping allergies
-It can be stored a long time
-and now it is going to be so easy for me to harvest honey from the flow frames. I found this place on ebay https://www.ebay.com/str/increasable7
I bought 4 flow hives to start for honey harvesting.   I didn't want the mess of harvesting the honey and bugging the bees or dealing with all the equipment cleanup after, so I'm trying this out this year.
So far, everything looks great, quality looks good and they came quickly.   There are lots of people using these for easy honey harvesting including some using tubes to drain directly into buckets, so easy!
It took me a long time to find a place that wasn't so darn expensive. Hope this help you all out too. I can't wait to taste the honey.
I will let everyone know how it works out at the end of the year. I'm going to compare it to the regular frames hives I have too. This will be interesting!

 
gardener
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I’d prefer maple. I use it as my major sweetener anyway and rarely honey; it has a more delicate taste; and also, it is very abundant in my ecosystem (though I foolishly didn’t get to tapping any trees this year!) and doesn’t come with anywhere near the fussing and risks of beekeeping. A maple tree can’t get up and fly away, and they’re unlikely to die over the winter, or sting you. All you need is a spile, a pail, and a pot for boiling, and it is easy to reduce the amount of boiling and get a better flavor via the ice method.

On the other hand maybe in the future I will think differently, when the maple trees are dying from global warming and there are major firewood shortages due to peak oil and gas and people not heeding the good news about rocket mass heaters.
 
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Maple syrup, hands down! It's like nature's sweet nectar, you know? That rich, gooey goodness just hits different. Whether it's on pancakes, bacon, or even in your coffee, it adds this cozy vibe that's hard to beat. Plus, there's something kinda magical about knowing it comes straight from maple trees. So yeah, maple syrup all the way it's sweet, versatile, and just downright tasty
 
gardener & hugelmaster
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Honey
 
pollinator
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Location: SE USA, southern Piedmont Uplands, zone 8b
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Given the climate I hope to settle in, and how I would use it, honey.
There is nothing like the taste of maple syrup! But I believe I could use honey more universally.
 
pollinator
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Matt McSpadden wrote:Would you rather have honey as your only source of sweetness or maple syrup as your only source of sweetness?


Maple Syrup, tastes better! and you can make sugar out of it

Sandy

 
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Honey, it's more than just a sweetener. It has its medicinal uses.
 
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Maple syrup, for health reasons. I have IBS and honey makes it worse. Flavor-wise, I slightly prefer maple too.
 
pollinator
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maple syrup

 
pollinator
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Maple, with the acknowledgment that I have never actually harvested my own of either sweetener.
 
gardener
Posts: 272
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I’m a weirdo and don’t like the taste of maple syrup. I realize I’m nearly alone in the position and I’m ok with that. Honey, in addition to tasting better to me:
  • makes delightful cakes
  • lasts forever
  • is great for wound care
  • makes mead
  • comes from glorious bees, who pollinate my crops and are endlessly fascinating to watch
  • doesn’t have to be processed; just bung it in the ubiquitous mason jar

  •  
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    Location: Australia, Tasmania, Coastal, sandy, windy and temperate.
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    Flow hive.. I have just purchased my first flow hive.  My local mentor wouldn’t let me get bees until I spent a year learning about them.. I thought a YEAR.. that’s ridiculous! But a year later I have realised how much I have learnt before I even get my bees. I started with books and watching videos. Then I started noticing things on the Internet. I started learning about diseases and prevention. It made me question whether I wanted to go natural or use chemicals to stop pests. It made me look at my garden about how I need to improve planting. I even learnt about wind direction.. to help the bees and stop me getting stung! Sometimes even though I think we could quickly get to the answer; slowing down actually makes you learn more.

     
    Riona Abhainn
    pollinator
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    I'm choosing honey because out of the 2 its the taste I prefer.
     
    Anne Miller
    steward
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    I was given some maple syrup when our daughter visited Canada.  It is so good.

    I would never buy it as I understand it is expensive ...
     
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    No contest: maple syrup every time.  Never liked any variety of honey (although, admittedly limited) I've ever tried.
     
    steward & author
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    Honey is ready to eat right out of the hive (love chewing on wax comb).

    So I would rather be maple syrup, where someone has to put a bit of extra effort to get me.
     
    I agree. Here's the link: http://stoves2.com
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