Blended
Most commercially available honey is blended, meaning that
it is a combination of honeys from different sources. China
is the world's largest producer of honey (256,000 tonnes in
2001), followed by the United States (100,000 tonnes),
Argentina (90,000 tonnes), Turkey (71,000 tonnes), Mexico,
Ukraine and India [1][2]
Polyfloral
Polyfloral honey is derived from the nectar of many types
of flowers.
Monofloral
Different monofloral honeys have a distinctive flavor and
colour due to differences between their principal nectar
sources. Beekeepers keep monofloral beehives in an area
where the bees have access to only one type of flower,
because of that flower's properties. In practice, because
of the difficulties in containing bees, a small proportion
of any honey will be from additional nectar from other
flower types. Some of the main types of monofloral honey
(and their main countries of production) include: apple
blossom (United Kingdom), acacia (Bulgaria, Hungary and
Romania), cherry blossom (United Kingdom), clover (Canada,
New Zealand), eucalyptus (Australia), heather (United
Kingdom), lavender (France, Spain), lime blossom (China,
Poland), orange blossom (France, Spain), tupelo (United
States), wild thyme (France, Greece, New Zealand) sunflower
(France, Spain) [3] and Manuka, Rata and Pōhutukawa from
New Zealand.
Instead of taking nectar, bees can take honeydew, which
appears similar to honey and consists of the sweet
secretions of aphids or other plant sap-sucking insects.
Most important of these is the aphid Marchalina hellenica
which feeds on the sap of the Turkish Pine. Honeydew from
pine forests has a piney taste and is prized for medicinal
use in Europe and Turkey. Bees collecting this resource
have to be fed protein supplements, as honeydew lacks the
protein-rich pollen accompaniment gathered from flowers.
In New Zealand honeydew nectar is produced from a small,
scaled insect (Ultracoelostoma assimile) living in the bark
of two of New Zealand's beech forests, mostly black beech
(black from the sooty mold growing on the surplus nectar
covering the trunks and branches) and, to a lesser extent,
red beech. In the early morning sunlight, the droplets of
nectar glisten like the morning dew, giving the name
honeydew.
Germany's Black Forest is a well known source of
honeydew-produced honeys.
Honeydew honey has a full aroma, is heady, almost pungent,
and malty with a thick red amber color.
Honeydew has strong markets in some areas, but in many
areas beekeepers are disappointed with a honeydew crop, as
they are unable to market the stronger flavored product.
Honeydew has a much larger proportion of indigestibles than
light honeys, which can cause dysentery, resulting in the
death of colonies in areas with cold winters. Good
beekeeping management requires the removal of honeydew
prior to winter in colder areas.
The information on this page has been
reproduced from www.wikipedia.com. Copyright
acknowledged.