Monofloral honey is a type of honey which has a distinctive flavor or other attribute due to its being predominantly from the nectar of a single plantspecies.[1] It is stored and labeled separately so as to command a premium price. While there may never be an absolute monofloral type, some honeys are relatively pure due to the prodigious nectar production of a particular species, such as citrus (orange blossom honey), or there may be little else in bloom at the time.
Beekeepers learn the predominant nectar sources of their region, and often plan harvests to keep especially fine ones separate.[2] For example, in the southern Appalachians, sourwood honey, from a small tree that blooms late in the season, is highly regarded. Beekeepers try to remove the previously produced dark and strong flavored tulip poplar honey, just before the sourwood bloom, so it does not mix with the lighter sourwood. During sourwood bloom, there is little else for the bees to forage.
Eastern North America (native), Bulgaria, Hungary, Ukraine and Romania (main producers), Canada, China, France, Serbia and Italy
Acacia, a light and clear honey made from the blossoms of Robinia pseudoacacia (aka black locust/American acacia) has a mild delicate floral taste and is one of the most popular and sweetest honey varieties. It lasts as a liquid due to being high in fructose. It has a fairly low acid content, and is excellent for sweetening without altering the taste or the aroma of beverages.
Alfalfa honey, produced extensively from the purple or blue blossoms (the most important honey plant in most of the western states) throughout the summer, is white or extra light amber in color with a fine flavor – a subtle spicy profile and mildly scented floral aroma. Not as sweet as most honey types, its delicate nature does not overpower other flavors.
A distinctively sweet smelling, full bodied floral varietal, Aster honey is abundant in the Mid-South United States. It is light in color and prone to crystallize quickly. Relatively thick and smooth in consistency.
Collected from the California avocado blossoms, avocado honey is dark in color and is dissimilar in taste to the avocado fruit, yet shares with it a fairly rich and buttery flavour. This honey originated in Southern Mexico and is now a common crop in Central America, Australia and other tropical regions.
Produced from the cream-colored Basswood blossoms found throughout North America, Basswood honey is one of the few exceptional honey varieties that has a water-white to light color and yet strong distinctive biting, mildly spicy flavour and a distinctive lingering aftertaste. It's somewhat fresh, pleasant "woody" scent is very good with teas like Earl Grey and works well in many recipes, e.g. for salad dressings and marinades.
Water-white or pale, depending on the time of collection
Produced in New England and in Michigan, blueberry honey is taken from the tiny white flowers of the blueberry bush. It has a pleasant full, well-rounded flavor, a slight tang, and a blueberry aftertaste.
Blue gum, a Eucalyptus honey species, grows in South Australia and Tasmania. It honey is amber in colour and dense in texture. Delicious on toast and wafers, this variety is popularly used as a breakfast or ice-cream drizzle.
Buckwheat was an important crop in the US from about 1930 to the 1960s, which has since faded from use, and buckwheat honey has become scarce in the US. A wild buckwheat Polygonum cuspidatum that has become established in the US is naturally milder than the familiar buckwheat, and sometimes is used to blend with buckwheat, or sold separately as a monofloral called "bamboo."[citation needed] Not all buckwheat types produce a lot of nectar for bees. Buckwheat honey is particularly popular in Ukraine.[6]
Carrot honey has a dark amber color with an aroma reminiscent of chocolate. The taste is strong with a bite to it – a sharp spike in an otherwise earthy, caramel flavor. There is also a "grassy" aftertaste, something close to meadow honey. This honey's taste is different from other honeys. It shines through when used in recipes. Carrot honey is obtained when carrot plants run to seed. This happens usually on specialist seed-breeding farms, or when bees collect nectar from wild carrots.
Tallow trees produce a very heavy honey flow of high-quality honey in May and June in the Southeastern states into Texas and beekeepers often move their hives into tallow tree areas to harvest the bountiful nectar. Honey is dark with a tangy taste that is prized.
Clover honey is a variety of honey made by bees that are fed clover.[9] Depending on the location and source, clover honey varies in color from water white to different tones of amber. White clover in particular is grown as a widespread blooming pasture crop and is a major nectar source in many parts of the world. The nectar from clover contains a higher water content and a larger proportion of glucose relative to fructose than found in many other varieties. As a result, clover honey tends to have a higher water content, which may permit it to crystallize more readily over time. Crystallization of honey does not indicate spoilage, but tends to be aesthetically undesirable, so producers may alter their procedures to avoid the hygroscopic honey from absorbing more moisture from the atmosphere.[10]
Harvested from New Zealand's South Island, Dandelion honey is a relatively strong honey blended with mild tangy notes. This dark amber honey delivers a distinct floral aroma of dandelions which are traditionally prized as a medicinal herb in China (including Tibet) and India for its broad spectrum of powerful healing properties.
Fynbos honey is produced in great quantities in some areas of Western Cape in South Africa. It comes from several species of "fynbos" found in the Cape Floral Kingdom. It is considered a premium honey with a strong spicy taste.
With acid soil, adequate moisture and good foraging weather during the autumn bloom, bees can make large quantities of honey from it. Much of it is sold for bakery use, but in some areas it has become a favored monofloral honey. Has a curious, distinctive and powerful smell, that has been described by some 'like caramel and milk is mixed into the honey', a spicy smell. Others suggest a faint licorice aroma. There is a peculiar discrepancy between the smell and its taste, and between varieties. The taste has been variously described as: 'a bit of a bite', 'a butterscotch-like flavor', 'similar to dandelion honey'.
Traditional honey with reputed health benefits. Found in the desert areas of Yemen, Pakistan's potohar region Sidr trees are also known as Jujube, or Ziziphus zizyphus.
Bee colonies may forage on kudzu flowers when there is a drought of nectar from other flower sources. The resultant honey has a rich red or purple hue, a low viscosity, and is described as having a flavour similar to bubblegum or grape jelly.[15]
Lehua Honey is made from the lehua (blossoms) of the ʻōhiʻa lehua (Metrosideros polymorpha), and is probably the rarest Hawaiian Honey. It is liquid when harvested from the hives but turns into a creamy, sturdy honey after a couple of weeks.
Manuka honey is from bees who feed on the flowers of the Manuka bush, also known as the "Tea Tree" to produce a honey that has anti-bacterial properties. Tea tree oil is commonly from the related Melaleuca tree native to Australia.
Dark cream to dark brown. It is also notably viscous.
The mesquite tree is prized for its sweet-smoky smelling wood, primarily used in barbecues and meat smokers. The honey produced from its flowers also has this distinctive smoky aroma.
Dark brown and viscous. Remains semi-crystalline even in hot weather.
France, Italy (Sicily), Mexico, Brazil and Spain; southern Greece; United States (Arizona, California, Texas, and Florida)
Is actually made from mixed citrus nectars. It is a thick, very sweet honey. Strong aroma.
Light amber to white, the lighter color and milder flavor coming in years when there is a large harvest and the honey is little contaminated by other nectars.
A floral – fresh fruit (fruity) aroma, warm, medium intensity.
Low acidity and medium sweetness, short persistence, aftertaste sometimes present (blackcurrant). When crystallised in very small crystals, refreshing (like "fondant")
Light yellow, whitish or dull ivory when crystallized.
Has a characteristic bitter taste. It is a typical Mediterranean monofloral honey. Its production ranges are mostly in Sardinia and Portugal. It is eaten as complimentary to salted foods, such as cheese and bacon.
"The nectar is copious and very watery producing a prolific honey crop... often with a high final moisture content... [and high] fructose."[20]Ixerba brexioides.
Made from trees of the genus Nyssa which are native to wetlands of southeastern US. In many areas the forests have been cut over, greatly reducing the supply of the honey. It is favored for some uses because it is very slow to granulate. Northern Florida is a major producer. Honey that is certified by laboratory analysis as purely tupelo brings a premium price.
This wild flower covers the hills of central South Island during summer months. The seed was once used as a treatment for snakebite, which gives the plant its name.
↑ The range of the origin plant is wider than stated, usually worldwide. There may also be local concentrations in any part of the world, meaning the monofloral honey can be produced outside the stated countries of origin
Related Research Articles
Bees are winged insects closely related to wasps and ants, known for their roles in pollination and, in the case of the best-known bee species, the western honey bee, for producing honey. Bees are a monophyletic lineage within the superfamily Apoidea. They are currently considered a clade, called Anthophila. There are over 20,000 known species of bees in seven recognized biological families. Some species – including honey bees, bumblebees, and stingless bees – live socially in colonies while most species (>90%) – including mason bees, carpenter bees, leafcutter bees, and sweat bees – are solitary.
Honey is a sweet and viscous substance made by several bees, the best-known of which are honey bees. Honey is made and stored to nourish bee colonies. Bees produce honey by gathering and then refining the sugary secretions of plants or the secretions of other insects, like the honeydew of aphids. This refinement takes place both within individual bees, through regurgitation and enzymatic activity, and during storage in the hive, through water evaporation that concentrates the honey's sugars until it is thick and viscous.
A honey bee is a eusocial flying insect within the genus Apis of the bee clade, all native to mainland Afro-Eurasia. After bees spread naturally throughout Africa and Eurasia, humans became responsible for the current cosmopolitan distribution of honey bees, introducing multiple subspecies into South America, North America, and Australia.
Tupelo, genus Nyssa, is a small genus of deciduous trees with alternate, simple leaves. It is sometimes included in the subfamily Nyssoideae of the dogwood family, Cornaceae, but is placed by other authorities in the family Nyssaceae. In the APG IV system, it is placed in Nyssaceae.
The Africanized bee, also known as the Africanized honey bee and colloquially as the "killer bee", is a hybrid of the western honey bee, produced originally by crossbreeding of the East African lowland honey bee (A. m. scutellata) with various European honey bee subspecies such as the Italian honey bee (A. m. ligustica) and the Iberian honey bee (A. m. iberiensis).
Pollination of fruit trees is required to produce seeds with surrounding fruit. It is the process of moving pollen from the anther to the stigma, either in the same flower or in another flower. Some tree species, including many fruit trees, do not produce fruit from self-pollination, so pollinizer trees are planted in orchards.
A queen bee is typically an adult, mated female (gyne) that lives in a colony or hive of honey bees. With fully developed reproductive organs, the queen is usually the mother of most, if not all, of the bees in the beehive. Queens are developed from larvae selected by worker bees and specially fed in order to become sexually mature. There is normally only one adult, mated queen in a hive, in which case the bees will usually follow and fiercely protect her.
The European dark bee is a subspecies of the western honey bee, evolving in central Asia, with a proposed origin of the Tien Shan Mountains and later migrating into eastern and then northern Europe after the last ice age from 9,000BC onwards. Its original range included the southern Urals in Russia and stretched through northern Europe and down to the Pyrenees. They are one of the two members of the 'M' lineage of Apis mellifera, the other being in western China. Traditionally they were called the Black German Bee, although they are now considered endangered in Germany. However today they are more likely to be called after the geographic / political region in which they live such as the British Black Bee, the Native Irish Honey Bee, the Cornish Black Bee and the Nordic Brown Bee, even though they are all the same subspecies, with the word "native" often inserted by local beekeepers, even in places where the bee is an introduced foreign species. It was domesticated in Europe and hives were brought to North America in the colonial era in 1622 where they were referred to as the English Fly by the Native Americans.
Bee pollen, also known as bee bread and ambrosia, is a ball or pellet of field-gathered flower pollen packed by worker honeybees, and used as the primary food source for the hive. It consists of simple sugars, protein, minerals and vitamins, fatty acids, and a small percentage of other components. Bee pollen is stored in brood cells, mixed with saliva, and sealed with a drop of honey. Bee pollen is harvested as food for humans and marketed as having various, but yet unproven, health benefits.
The Carniolan honey bee is a subspecies of the western honey bee. The Carniolan honey bee is native to Slovenia, southern Austria, and parts of Albania, Croatia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Montenegro, Serbia, Hungary, Romania, Bulgaria and North-East Italy.
American foulbrood, caused by the spore-forming bacterium Paenibacillus larvae, is a highly infectious honey bee brood disease. It is the most widespread and destructive of the honey bee brood diseases. It is globally distributed and burning of infected colonies is often considered as the only effective measure to prevent spreading of the disease.
Stingless bees, sometimes called stingless honey bees or simply meliponines, are a large group of bees, comprising the tribe Meliponini. They belong in the family Apidae, and are closely related to common honey bees, carpenter bees, orchid bees, and bumblebees. Meliponines have stingers, but they are highly reduced and cannot be used for defense, though these bees exhibit other defensive behaviors and mechanisms. Meliponines are not the only type of bee incapable of stinging: all male bees and many female bees of several other families, such as Andrenidae, also cannot sting. Some stingless bees have powerful mandibles and can inflict painful bites.
Honeydew is a sugar-rich sticky liquid, secreted by aphids, some scale insects, and many other true bugs and some other insects as they feed on plant sap. When their mouthpart penetrates the phloem, the sugary, high-pressure liquid is forced out of the anus of the aphid. Honeydew is particularly common as a secretion in hemipteran insects and is often the basis for trophobiosis. Some caterpillars of Lycaenidae butterflies and some moths also produce honeydew.
The western honey bee or European honey bee is the most common of the 7–12 species of honey bees worldwide. The genus name Apis is Latin for "bee", and mellifera is the Latin for "honey-bearing" or "honey carrying", referring to the species' production of honey.
Colony collapse disorder (CCD) is an abnormal phenomenon that occurs when the majority of worker bees in a honey bee colony disappear, leaving behind a queen, plenty of food, and a few nurse bees to care for the remaining immature bees. While such disappearances have occurred sporadically throughout the history of apiculture, and have been known by various names, the syndrome was renamed colony collapse disorder in early 2007 in conjunction with a drastic rise in reports of disappearances of western honey bee colonies in North America. Beekeepers in most European countries had observed a similar phenomenon since 1998, especially in Southern and Western Europe; the Northern Ireland Assembly received reports of a decline greater than 50%. The phenomenon became more global when it affected some Asian and African countries as well.
Melipona beecheii is a species of eusocial stingless bee. It is native to Central America from the Yucatán Peninsula in the north to Costa Rica in the south. M. beecheii was cultivated in the Yucatán Peninsula starting in the pre-Columbian era by the ancient Maya civilization. The Mayan name for M. beecheii is xunan kab, which translates roughly to "regal lady bee". M. beecheii serves as the subject of various Mayan religious ceremonies.
Honey bee starvation is a problem for bees and beekeepers. Starvation may be caused by unfavorable weather, disease, long distance transportation or depleting food reserve. Over-harvesting of honey is the foremost cause for scarcity as bees are not left with enough of a honey store, though weather, disease, and disturbance can also cause problems. Backyard beekeepers face more colony losses in the winter than in the summer, but for commercial beekeepers there is not much variation in loss by season. Starvation may be avoided by effective monitoring of hives and disease prevention measures. Starvation can amplify the toxic effect of pesticides bees are exposed to.
↑ González-Miret, Maria Lourdes; Terrab, Anass; Hernanz, Dolores; Fernández-Recamales, Maria Ángeles; Heredia, Francisco J. (2005). "Multivariate Correlation between Color and Mineral Composition of Honeys and by Their Botanical Origin". Journal of Agricultural and Food Chemistry. 53 (7): 2574–2580. doi:10.1021/jf048207p. PMID15796597.
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