As we’re sure you know, honey is made by us bees from the nectar of flowers. Pretty cool hey? So the main thing affecting the type of honey is the type of flower. Most honey you’ll see is multifloral or ‘wildflower’ – this just means that the bees have foraged on a mix of different flowers. Most beekeepers (including Just Bee beekeeper Pa Harper) will produce wildflower honey because their hives are surrounded by loads of different types of flowers
The opposite is single flower honey which is when bees have only foraged on one type of flower. These honeys all have very different tastes and are usually a bit more expensive – we thought we’d give you a few tips on deciding on which honey is for you!
Ocacia honey:
Produced from the blossoms of Robinia Pseudoacacaia a.k.a. Black Locust tree.
Light yellow and almost clear in colour.
Mild, light and delicately floral in taste.
Due to being high fructose content (and less glucose) it doesn’t crystallise as quickly and has a lower GI which is said to help regulate blood sugar levels.
Chef Bee’s top tip: its sweetness means it pairs really well with cheese and it’s also great in a curry!
Chestnut honey:
Produced from the chestnut tree.
Dark in colour and a strong, slightly bitter and nutty taste.
One of the highest vitamin and mineral contents of all honeys.
Remains liquid for a long time.
Popular in tea and coffee – especially in Eastern Europe.
Lavender honey:
Bees love lavender – the Just Bee beehives are surrounded by it!
This honey is amber in colour and has a sweet and delicate lavender flavour
Try this one as a glaze for roasting meats!
Manuka honey (also known as ‘tea tree’ or ‘gum tree’ honey):
Probably the best known single flower honey – famed for being rich in vitamins and minerals therefore having higher medicinal benefits
Produced from Manuka tree which only grows in New Zealand and parts of South Australia (pictured above with the white flowers)
Got a bit of bad press in 2016 when reports showed that there was a lot of ‘fake’ Manuka honey for sale (up to 10 times more being sold than produced!!)
Oil Seed Rape:
Produced from the bright yellow rape crop – you will start to see fields in the UK countryside covered in this bee-utiful yellow flowered crop at this time of year!
The honey is yellowish or milky white in colour.
Floral, fresh and fruity in taste.
Crystallizes quickly so has to be creamed – best used on breads and toast (Chef Bee’s favourite bagel topping).
Orange blossom honey:
Produced from the flowers of orange trees – so you’ll often find beehives placed in orange groves (especially in Spain and Florida)
Light in colour and orange/ citrus taste and aroma
High flavonoid (antioxidant) content so like manuka, it’s known for its medicinal properties
Remains liquid for a medium amount of time.
Delicious with yoghurt, ice cream, crepes and porridge (we certainty think so!)
We hope our tips have been helpful. We would love to hear any of your tips or thoughts on honey – what is the most bee-licious one you have tried? Where did you find it and how did you eat it?!
Where you buy honey matters—but you can't necessarily trust all "Made in the USA" varieties.
Honey has a dirty little secret: Chinese honey (which may come to the US via India or Malaysia) can be tainted with lead and antibiotics. But finding a quality honey isn't as simple as buying a "Made in the USA" product. Turns out, "spiking" honey is a common practice in the US, says Mark Fratu, beekeeper and founder of Arizona Honey Market. Meaning you could be getting honey that's been tainted with corn syrup or other sweeteners—either fed to the bees or blended into the honey directly—to make it more affordable.
But how is a consumer to know? The proof is in the pollen, says Fratu. The presence of pollen, which gets stuck on bees' legs when they're collecting nectar and makes its way into the honey, can tell you the origin and potency of the honey. A study by Food Safety News found that 75% of honey sold in big box retailers and grocery stores contained no pollen while 100% of honey bought at farmers' markets, co-ops, and natural grocers like Trader Joe's had their full pollen content. So, where you buy your honey could very well make a difference.
Something else to keep in mind: Choosing "raw" honey, which means honey has not been heated or filtered, doesn't guarantee quality or presence of pollen—label laws are loose—but if it's opaque, cream-colored, or crystalized, that's a good sign. If you want more proof: "There is a labeling program called True Source Honey which can help consumers feel confident that the honey they purchase is the real thing," says Sharon Palmer, RDN, dietician and author of Plant-Powered for Life.
Light honey tastes much different than dark.
"Honey is graded based on color, clarity, flavor, and moisture, not on nutritional value," notes Rebecca Scritchfield, RDN, a registered dietician in Washington, DC. As a rule of thumb, that means lighter-colored honeys (Grade C) are milder than amber shades (Grade B) or their darker, bolder counterparts (Grade A). Match the color to the food: More delicate honeys, like clover, work well in salad dressing while more assertive varieties (buckwheat) make great marinades. What's more, honey reflects the flavor of its source, and with the influx of single flavor and local varieties flooding store shelves—blueberry, chamomile, lavender, orange blossom—there are more types than ever. "Play with the different flavors," says Shauna Sever, cookbook author of Real Sweet. "By changing up the honey you use, it's almost like adding additional flavor."
Sure, pick honey over sugar—but don't pull a Pooh Bear
Honey gets a lot of props: It has slightly more nutrients and antioxidants than traditional table sugar, plus it's less processed and lower on the glycemic index, says Palmer. What's more, it contains 25 different oligosaccharides, carbs that feed the good bacteria in the gut, which has been tied to boosted digestion, immunity, and mineral absorption. While it has more calories than the white stuff (23 calories per tsp compared to sugar's 16 calories), it's sweeter and denser so you can use less of it. Sweet, right? But keep in mind that it's still a sweetener and chemically not that much different than sugar. So moderation is key—no eating it by the pawful.