Q: What is white honey
Is “white honey” a real thing? A friend brought this [***] in to enjoy with coffee and it is from Kyrgyzstan. I have never heard of it and your articles on contamination of honey sourced from China make me suspect of anything not from known beekeepers locally.
Trevor Wolf
Ohio, February
Answer
***Readers, Trevor sent a picture of the honey in question, but I did not include it in the article because it contained identifying information.
Yes, white honey is a real thing. Beekeepers from several regions around the world report the ability to produce white honey. Kyrgyzstan is one of the countries in which beekeepers can do this. With honey, the floral nectar source always dictates taste, color, aroma, and other properties. When I see white honeys, they are almost always sourced from nectar that, when collected and processed into honey, crystallize quickly. Honey tends to crystallize when the moisture content falls below ~15.5% water. In most cases, such honey will produce large sugar crystals. Though this does not degrade the honey, it is less appealing to the consumer because of the coarse sugar granules. White honeys are also produced via natural granulation of low-humidity honey. Unlike other honeys, though, they crystallize into a much smoother honey, almost like creamed honey. I saw this firsthand when visiting a beekeeper who produces the famed white honey in Hawaii. It is source-dependent and it would appear that Kyrgyzstan is fortunate enough to have a source of nectar that, when converted to honey, granulates into a smooth, creamy honey.
Q: Mite-resistant bees
After reading the January 2026 issue of ABJ, I am feeling somewhat frustrated regarding the lack of progress to develop mite-resistant bees. As I read the article by Bill Hesbach about vadescana, I thought that was a step forward but was reminded that resistance to this new pathway could not be ruled out.
Then I read Randy Oliver’s challenge to beekeepers to develop mite-resistant bees, but his method required literally thousands of hives to control drones and develop resistant queens and daughters. What is the backyard beekeeper to do? What can we do to be part of the solution? We have no control over the DCA [drone congregation area] to develop resistant bloodlines.
Keith Anderson
December
Answer
I certainly understand your frustration. As you imply, it takes a lot of work to manage a successful queen selection and breeding program. It is hard to do that at the commercial level, let alone at the hobbyist level. Even still, I do have a recommendation I can make.
Honey bee selection is technical work. You must identify traits that certain colonies possess, traits that allow colonies to be resistant to Varroa and productive. You must monitor colony performance for each trait, select the better colonies, and produce daughter queens from the selected stock. Beyond that, you must perform the same level of selection on drone-source colonies. That way, you not only produce queens with the traits you want, but you also produce drones with similar traits. It takes a good drone and a good queen to produce a good worker.
After you have selected the stocks with the traits you want, you must produce mated queens. To do this, you must learn how to graft, have all the specialized equipment needed to run a breeding program, etc. It is helpful if you know how to inseminate queens instrumentally, as this technical skill comes in handy when controlling the queen and drone stock.
This is overwhelming, especially for the hobbyist. I do not think that queen selection and production are beneficial endeavors for most hobby beekeepers to undertake. If true, what option is on the table for the average hobbyist? I recommend letting queen breeders/producers carry this burden and you purchase queens from them.
I always recommend building one’s beekeeping enterprise around mite-resistant bees. These include New World Carniolans, Russian honey bees, hygienic stock (VSH, Pol-line), and other similar stocks. Of course, anyone can sell a queen, claiming that it is one stock, but it being another. Knowing this, I always reach out to the originator of that stock and ask them where they would recommend purchasing queens that most represent the stock. For example, Sue Cobey created the New World Carniolan stock. If I wanted to use that bee, I would reach out to Sue to see who she recommends I contact as a source of the stock. The USDA-ARS laboratory in Baton Rouge is the originator of the Russian stock. I would reach out to them and see who they recommend (the Russian Honeybee Breeders Association, for example). Marla Spivak was instrumental in the development of the hygienic honey bee. I would ask her where to find quality hygienic stock.
What can the backyard beekeeper do? Do some homework. Find good sources of mite-resistant stock. Honor the producers with your patronage. Learn more about their selection and production process. Share your concerns with queen breeders. Ultimately, I recommend supporting the businesses of those individuals who work hard to produce consistently performing, quality stock …
