home » Recreation and entertainment » What are the varieties of honey? Dark, white and rare varieties of honey. What variety is the most useful? Dark honey: properties and varieties. How dark honey is harvested What determines the color of honey

What are the varieties of honey? Dark, white and rare varieties of honey. What variety is the most useful? Dark honey: properties and varieties. How dark honey is harvested What determines the color of honey

From which plants there is no honey (on an industrial scale):

Siberian kandyk, ginseng, celandine, Chinese magnolia vine, elecampane, green strawberry, upland uterus (ortilia lopsided), cinquefoil, hazel (not honey plant at all), Japanese saphora, May rose (rose hip), juniper, ankhuz, golden volodushka, Far Eastern lotus, goof silver and others. Let's add here the honey that cannot be produced in our country - camel thorn honey, Akkuray honey, eucalyptus honey, cotton honey and others.

There is practically no honey from St. John's wort, roses, since bees collect only pollen from them, but such honey is also sold. Some plants have a meager amount of nectar in flowers, so there is almost no honey from bird cherry, coltsfoot, hawthorn. Such honey is counterfeited from low-quality varieties, adding aromatic substances, for example, a drop of hawthorn oil, and throwing in a few dead bees or pieces of honeycomb, giving "naturalness" to honey.

In fact, most honey turns out to be ordinary field honey - from sunflower, rapeseed, buckwheat, sainfoin, sweet clover. The beekeeper himself can only roughly tell what kind of honey he has, based on the plants that grow near his apiary. At fairs, they write the name, focusing more on the demand for this or that honey. Do you want fake? Northern? Altaic? Siberian? Please! It has become very “fashionable” to come up with loud names for honey: “royal”, “wild”, “royal velvet”, “7 flowers”, “10 flowers” (as if you can make a bee fly on 7 or 10 identical flowers!). For example, “wild” is supposedly honey from bees living in hollows. But to find a hollow with bees in the forest, and even with honey, is unrealistic! And at the fair they sell "wild" honey, moreover, from the steppe regions, where there is no forest ...

How to determine the origin of honey

The botanical origin of flower monofloral honey (honey produced by bees from the nectar of plants predominantly of one species) is determined by:

According to the dominant honey plant: then the honey variety can be determined organoleptically (by taste, smell).

According to the representation of pollen: all self-respecting laboratories have color tables of the main types of pollen.

According to physico-chemical indicators (mass fraction of sugar, diastase number, mass fraction of water, etc.).

Therefore, if you see that the fair sells, for example, honey from a hog queen, Altai ginseng, kandyk, maral root, lotus and other exotics, feel free to ask the seller for the results of pollen analysis.

In the best case, it will be a mixture of honey, beaten until the crystal is broken, and in the worst case, sunflower honey with flavors, stabilizers, regulators, hardeners, and so on.

Sunflower is the most common honey plant, the wholesale price of which is up to 45-50 rubles per kilogram. Therefore, when conducting examinations, the composition of sunflower is often 80%.

At the same time, in fact, there are clear instructions from the Federal Agency for Technical Regulation and Metrology (N130-17 / 1512 of 05/25/2006), which categorically prohibit indicating information about the botanical origin of honey without pollen analysis! But, unfortunately, in our country there are practically no pollinologists, which makes it difficult to follow these instructions.

Varieties of honey

clover honey- colorless and almost transparent, has a slightly pronounced aroma of clover flowers, after crystallization it takes the form of a white fat-like mass, has good taste. Predominant in colonies of gray mountain Caucasian bees.

Raspberry honey- light golden color with an exceptionally pleasant aroma and taste; is in great demand as a remedy. Collected in many apiaries.

Buckwheat honey- has a bright light brown color with a slightly reddish tint, has a strong pleasant aroma and good taste. Buckwheat honey contains up to 0.3% protein and much more iron than light honey.

heather honey- reddish-brown in color, has a strong specific aroma and a slightly tart taste, remains brown after crystallization. Heather honey is the richest in terms of protein (1.86%) and mineral salts. In terms of taste, it is classified as honey of the lowest grade.

field honey- has many shades, from light amber to light brown. This honey is of high quality, with a strong aroma and good taste data, and therefore is in great demand.

forest honey- also has many shades, from light yellow to dark brown. It is always darker than meadow and field honey. In terms of taste, honey collected from summer herbs is not inferior to meadow and field honey, but if it contains a large percentage of honeydew or buckthorn and heather, it loses its taste.

meadow honey- from light yellow to light brown, has a very fragrant bouquet (especially from Rosaceae) and a pleasant taste, and therefore is not inferior to other honeys.

Special properties

It is very funny to see when sellers convince buyers to choose their honey, arguing this with stories about what their products have "magic" properties.

But do they have the right to allow such unsubstantiated claims? Of course not! After all, according to the Technical Regulations "On the labeling of food products" Art. 14 - if the seller claims special properties of the product, then this must be confirmed by a document.

Therefore, if you want to make sure that the selected honey is really so magical - demand the test results!

Honey, of course, can strengthen the immune system, such as linden or taiga, or have other beneficial properties due to the trace elements it contains: iodine, iron, vitamin C (depending on the variety). But no "improves eyesight, cures kidneys, liver, cancer and AIDS"

Types of honey

Monofloral honey. Honey is never collected by bees from only one type of honey plant. Therefore, honey is called monofloral (buckwheat, linden, etc.) if 40% or more of nectar is collected from this honey plant. These percentages can reach a maximum of 60, because it is impossible to make a bee fly to only one type of honey plant, and in the surrounding nature there is never only one type of plant.
In addition, to obtain monofloral honey, the period of its collection should coincide with the flowering period, mainly, of only one plant.

Polyfloral honey - honey produced by bees from nectar collected from plants of several species. The name of polyfloral honey is associated with the type of honey lands. For example: forest, mountain, steppe, meadow, etc.

May honey - honey of the first stroke
The name "May honey" is not associated with the characteristics of bee honey and is a purely philistine name among buyers.
The name comes from those ancient times when the chronology in Russia was different, and May began two weeks later than the current chronology. Then the first honey was pumped out this month.

Honeydew honey, mentioned more than once- this is honey that bees produce in a hot dry summer not from the nectar of flower plants, but from the sweet secretions of some insects: aphids, psyllids, mealybugs (honeydew honey of animal origin) and from honeydew - sugary substances of some plants, such as linden, fir , spruce, oak, willow, maple, apple tree, hazel, larch, aspen, elm, pine, rose, pear, plum (honeydew honey of plant origin).

Its color usually ranges from dark (black, tarry) and dark brown (honey from various deciduous trees) to dark green in honeycomb cells. But honeydew honey from coniferous trees can also be light yellow.

Honeydew honey has a less pronounced aroma, depending on the source of the honeydew: it can be unpleasant, have a burnt sugar smell, or have none. The consistency is syrupy, viscous, honey does not melt in the mouth for a long time. Honeydew honey, being cheaper, is mainly used in baking and confectionery production.

How to choose honey

“Honey should be looked at and tasted every time,” advises a professional beekeeper, nutrition expert Ivan Gorbachev. - It needs to be not flaky. If the bottom is thick, and the top is slurry, then the honey was collected too early, it turned out to be raw. The bees have not yet had time to melt the excess moisture. It is better not to take such a product.

Natural honey can be either liquid or crystallized or "shrunken". It is wrong to assume that the most useful honey is liquid. Of course, this is his normal state immediately after pumping out of the cells. But frozen honey can also be melted if it is heated (then, however, it loses many healing qualities). Therefore, in winter it is better to buy crystallized honey and be sure that it has kept all the beneficial substances intact.

What determines the color of honey? Honey is a unique product in all its parameters, it has a fragrant aroma and a pleasant taste. And its beneficial properties cannot be overestimated, because it helps to get rid of various diseases, not to mention maintaining the immune system. This amazing product has many varieties, each of which is special due to its properties. Therefore, you should understand what classification of honey exists in order to choose the most suitable product.

Types of honey

The bee product has a huge number of varieties, each created from the nectar of a certain type of plant. In this case, the resulting product may have a light or dark color and a number of special properties. Usually these properties depend on the medicinal characteristics of plants. Thus, it turns out like nothing else and everyone's favorite delicacy. Now this delicacy can be divided into the following types:

Monofloral honey is a product collected from a single plant, such as buckwheat or linden. Of course, this delicacy cannot contain 100% nectar from a single plant. Therefore, honey can be considered monofloral if more than 40% of the nectar is collected from one honey plant. This is because bees cannot fly to just one plant. Usually, in the environment, many plants bloom in one period, so this variety is obtained.
Polyfloral honey collected from the nectars of several plant species. Such nectar is collected by bees in forests, mountains, and steppes. This product has a very rich taste and aroma and is the most common. But if such honey is collected from wild bees, then it is very rare and has a huge amount of healing properties.
May honey is a product collected for the first time after winter. Its name has nothing to do with its properties, because it came from ancient times, when the chronology was different, and the collection of honey began in May, hence the name. May honey is one of the most delicious varieties, as the nectar for it is collected from many flowering trees and flowers, because there are a lot of them in May.
Honeydew honey is special in that it is collected not from the nectar of plants, but from the sweet secretions of insects, including aphids. The composition may also include honeydew from trees such as linden, apple, maple and others. This happens when the summer is too dry and the flowers wither. The color of the bee product obtained in this way is usually dark green, brown, and in some cases yellow. This type of honey has a not very pleasant aroma and a viscous texture. Since it is the cheapest, it is used mainly in bakeries and confectioneries.

All these varieties and their characteristics are of great importance when choosing a treat. After all, everyone who buys this product is counting on its properties that can improve health.

What determines the color of the product?

Many are accustomed to seeing exactly yellow honey, since this type is the most common. Of course, the color can vary from light or even almost white to dark brown. But what determines the color of this delicacy? This issue needs to be looked into in more detail. Now honey is divided into four color groups:

white, colorless;
amber, cream;
yellow;
brown, brown.

The most important thing that affects the color of this product is what plants the nectar was collected from, and in what period of the year. In addition, the population of bees and the condition of their combs are affected. So, for different bees, the color of the product collected in one period may be different in one area. You should not miss the geographical location, because it also plays a big role, for example, completely different plants grow in the mountains.

Of course, this delicacy, despite the color and variety, has one common feature - to boost the immune system and treat colds. However, other properties may differ depending on its color and the nectar of the plants from which the product was made.

Now light colors of honey and rare white honey are gaining more and more popularity. This is due to the quality of the product, because it is made from medicinal plants, sometimes very rare. Acacia honey is especially popular; due to its taste, it has long been a first-class honey. What can not be said about linden honey, because it does not always turn out to be of the right quality. Sometimes, when collecting nectar, bees also collect honeydew from linden, so this product becomes dark in color.

Based on this, you should be more attentive to the choice of this sweet and ask the seller again what specific nectar it is made from. Indeed, often inexperienced buyers are sold a low-quality product, dark in color and at the same time they claim that it is made from special types of plants, but this is not always the case and instead of a useful product, the buyer receives the cheapest type of honey at a high price. Therefore, you should pay special attention to color, smell and especially taste, it should have a pleasant aftertaste, not bitterness. And it is best to buy this delicacy from trusted and conscientious beekeepers who are confident in the quality of the products or at fairs where the products have a quality certificate.

yellow honey

Everyone has long been accustomed to enjoy yellow honey, because this color is the most common. Such a color can be given to this delicacy by both flowers and meadow grasses. At the same time, a natural product should have a transparent structure and a special aroma.

Most often, the yellow color of this sweetness is given by the nectar of a plant such as sweet clover. This plant has excellent medicinal properties. At the same time, such honey is very useful for nursing mothers, because it increases lactation. Therefore, this product is in great demand. In the liquid state, sweet clover nectar has a yellow color, but after a long crystallization process it brightens and becomes creamy.

A yellow color can also be given to honey by a plant such as field cornflower, because it is a good honey plant. The product obtained from it has a special taste with a slight bitterness, and its pleasant almond flavor makes it popular among lovers of this type of delicacy.

The color palette of buckwheat honey is more diverse, depending on the season and the bee population, it can vary from light yellow to brown. It is very common and loved by everyone, as it has a very pleasant floral aroma and good taste, characterized by its long aftertaste.

Among all types of this yellow delicacy, sunflower honey stands out noticeably. Everyone knows about such a plant as sunflower, in addition to its fruits, it is an excellent honey plant, therefore it attracts bees with its flowering. Among its taste qualities, one can especially distinguish a pleasant bitterness and a characteristic aftertaste. Unlike previous species, this delicacy does not have a particularly pronounced smell, but this does not prevent it from being one of the most delicious varieties. At the same time, such a product quickly crystallizes and becomes granular and, which is very important, acquires a beautiful bright yellow color.

This product cannot have a fully white color, because it always acquires some shade, depending on the nectar of the plant. But it is light honey that is by far the most expensive and in demand, yellow shades of the product cannot always compete with it. This is due to the fact that a light product has more useful characteristics.

Popular varieties of honey

Each connoisseur of this delicacy believes that the most delicious are monofloral varieties of honey, that is, those that mostly consist of the nectar of one plant. So what is honey? Depending on the origin, that is, on the nectar of which plant it was made, a huge number of species are distinguished. Among which are:

Clover - this honey is transparent or has a slightly pronounced color. It is remembered for its floral aroma and good taste. After crystallization becomes a white thick mass.
Raspberry - has a pleasant light golden color and is popular due to the healing properties of the plant.
Heather - is distinguished by its reddish-brown color and has a tart taste and a not very pleasant smell. This product belongs to the lowest grade.
Acacia honey - has a pleasant, unique aroma and good taste. At the same time, such a product crystallizes very slowly and turns from light cream into milky or white. It is often used for insomnia and gastrointestinal diseases.
Mustard has a bright golden color, but becomes creamy when solidified. In addition to medicinal properties, it also has nutritional benefits.
Alfalfa, may have different shades, but upon crystallization it acquires a lighter color.
Chestnut has a dark color and the smell of chestnut flowers, especially with its bitter aftertaste.

Since this product is also polyfloral, it is characterized by the collection of nectar by bees in certain places, such as a field, meadow, forest. Therefore, there are also such varieties:

Field is a product that has a special aroma of field plants and a very pleasant taste. It is thanks to him that honey is in great demand among lovers of sweets. It can have both light yellow and dark shades.
Forest honey is the most valuable and rare variety, because it has good healing qualities. At the same time, it has special taste qualities, which are even better than those of the field and meadow species. Its colors range from light yellow to brown.
Lugovoi is special for its wonderful flavor bouquet and aromas. Therefore, it is very popular among connoisseurs of this delicacy.

Regardless of where this product was collected, it should first of all be liked by its taste and aroma. At the same time, one should not forget about the unique properties of this product.

Special types of honey

In addition to all known types of this sweet, there are also very rare ones that are very difficult to find and buy. However, they are no less unique than the usual species. The product of dark brown color with a special aroma of tobacco is called tobacco honey. This species is very rare and insufficiently studied, therefore it is not recommended to use it for the prevention and treatment of diseases.

Even more unusual is rock honey. It got its name from the fact that wild bees lay it in the crevices of stone cliffs. This product is unlike ordinary honey, as it is not sticky at all, and its honeycombs do not contain wax. Its peculiarity is the high content of glucose, due to which it is preserved without changing its qualities at all for several years. Because of its origin, it can also be called Abkhazian honey.

One of the types of this delicacy that is special in its origin is poisonous honey. This species is quite dangerous for humans, as it can cause symptoms such as headache, diarrhea, and vomiting. This is due to the fact that bees extract nectar from plants such as azalea, mountain laurel, Pontic rhododendron, hellebore. These plants are special due to their poisonous properties. Therefore, in its pure form, such a product can cause the above reactions. This type of treat should be tested in laboratories to avoid symptoms.

Usually this product is collected from plants in Japan, the Caucasus, the Far East and some other areas. At the same time, it is not always possible to establish exactly from which nectars such honey is obtained. Symptoms of poisoning appear after about 20 minutes and are accompanied by severe itching, pain, and even fever for about 5 hours.

Express honey is very difficult to call a truly healthy and natural product. After all, it is made by foreign or domestic researchers who position it as a medicinal product. It is created with the help of bees, which feed on sugar syrup and medicines. This idea came from researchers who decided that many diseases can be treated in this way without the use of medications. But, unfortunately, such a product was not supported by many people, because they do not believe in the possibility of such a treatment.

Features of choice

Each person, choosing such a treat for himself, should proceed from what effect he expects to receive and for what needs this product is needed. In most cases, honey is bought in case:

colds or their prevention;
maintaining immunity;
for confectionery use.

If this delicacy is bought for diseases, then you should pay special attention to the nectar of which plant the product is made from. After all, each has its own healing properties. It is very important when choosing to look at the color and consistency, it can tell what quality this product is.

To support the immune system, especially when it comes to a child, it is best to choose light colors that speak of its healing properties and improved health. A lime or raspberry type of treat is well suited.

When such a delicacy is necessary solely for the preparation of confectionery, then it does not matter which product to choose. It can be either the cheapest variety or the most expensive. After all, when choosing, it is especially important to pay attention to the taste of sweets so that the intended confectionery products turn out to be incredibly tasty and fragrant. In this case, it all depends on the taste needs of each.

According to experts, the use of honey in the amount of 2-3 teaspoons a day normalizes metabolism and improves immunity. In addition, this sweet treat prevents the development of inflammatory processes and neutralizes infections.

There are a lot of varieties of honey and each of them has its own unique properties, which largely depend on the place of collection of the product. But all varieties have common features: any natural honey has an antimicrobial, antibacterial and antioxidant effect. The honey collected in the meadows of Altai is very valuable. Magnificent melliferous herbs grow here. By the way, before people learned how to produce sugar, honey replaced it and for a long time remained the only sweet product.

The scope of honey is quite wide. It is used not only as a food product, but is also a component of many medicines, and is also actively used in the cosmetic industry. It is used in the production of shampoos, balms, creams. In folk medicine, honey is famous as an excellent wound healing agent. It is believed that its imposition on open wounds accelerates the regenerating processes.

Now, in spring, everyone who breeds bees is busy organizing and arranging apiaries so that the bees can work productively and rest comfortably throughout the warm period. And with the advent of autumn, numerous honey fairs will begin, and all buyers will have the same question: what kind of honey to choose? It is quite difficult to select the most useful among the many varieties. Our top five looks like this, and you decide which healthy treat to give preference to.

1. Buckwheat honey

This dark honey is rightfully considered one of the best varieties. Buckwheat honey is easy to recognize by its pronounced taste and characteristic aroma. This honey can have a different color, usually it varies from brownish green, sometimes with a red tint, to dark brown. Bees produce it from buckwheat flowers. Buckwheat honey is very rich in amino acids and trace elements. It has general strengthening properties, has a beneficial effect on the heart, relieves pain symptoms in cholelithiasis, is indicated for anemia, colds, hypertension, gastritis, liver diseases, skin diseases and kidney failure.

2. Linden honey

Linden honey has a magical smell and delicious delicate taste. It is usually white, light amber or greenish yellow. The taste of linden honey can vary significantly depending on where it was harvested. The Far Eastern product has the most delicate taste and light aroma of linden flowers, while the product collected in the European part of Russia is characterized by a sharp bouquet and rich taste.

This honey is indispensable when it comes to the treatment of bronchitis, tonsillitis, influenza, laryngitis, rhinitis, bronchial asthma, as well as diseases of the kidneys and gastrointestinal tract. It perfectly heals burns and purulent wounds. Its secret is in its high bactericidal properties, which make it a good helper in the fight against inflammatory processes.

3. Sweet clover honey

Sweet clover honey is a real storehouse of vitamins and other substances useful for the human body. Its color can vary from amber to almost white with a greenish tint. It has a delicious taste: sweet with spicy bitterness. Often the taste of sweet clover honey has a slight hint of vanilla.

Due to its unusual taste and useful properties, this variety of honey is very popular among connoisseurs. Sweet clover honey saves from insomnia, has a strong sedative effect. It helps with bowel diseases, cardiovascular diseases, metabolic problems. Compresses with propolis well anesthetize with abrasions, cuts, bruises and sprains.

4. Acacia honey

We will not be mistaken if we call acacia honey one of the most famous. From one hectare of flowering acacia trees, a bee can collect about 1.5 thousand kilograms of honey. And one tree allows the bee family to produce 8 kilograms of sweet treats.

Immediately after pumping, acacia honey is transparent, it gradually acquires its traditional whitish color during crystallization. The main feature of this product is the almost identical content of fructose and glucose. Acacia honey is an excellent general tonic, useful for gastrointestinal diseases, kidney diseases and nervous disorders. It has a calming effect, relieves insomnia.

5. Sainfoin honey

Moderately sweet and pleasant-smelling, sainfoin honey is initially transparent, but sometimes has a light amber hue, and after crystallization becomes white.

This honey is especially valuable because of its richness in vitamins, minerals and biologically active substances. It is rich in carotene, contains many valuable enzymes and ascorbic acid. Sainfoin honey helps to strengthen the immune system, so it is recommended for people who are often sick. It has a general strengthening effect and has a beneficial effect on the nervous system.

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Classmates

Honey accumulates the Power of the Earth, the Sun, and a person uses it in his life. Beekeeping in Rus' began from ancient times. Favorable climatic conditions, rich melliferous vegetation of meadows and forests contributed to abundant honey collection. Before the advent of sugar-making, honey was the only sweet food, highly valued, and one of the commodities that was exported to other countries. They paid dues with honey and wax.

By botanical origin, natural honey can be floral, mixed and honeydew.

1. Flower honey obtained from the processing of plant nectar by bees. It can be monofloral (from one plant) and polyfloral (from several plants).

2. Honeydew honey It is formed during the processing of honeydew and honeydew by bees, which they collect from the stems and leaves of plants. This is honey that bees produce in hot dry summers not from the nectar of flower plants, but from the sweet secretions of some insects: aphids, psyllids, mealybugs (honeydew honey of animal origin) and from honeydew - sugary substances of some plants, such as linden, fir, spruce, oak, willow, maple, apple tree, hazel, larch, aspen, elm, pine, rose, pear, plum (plant honeydew honey). Its color usually ranges from dark (black, tarry) and dark brown (honey from various deciduous trees) to dark green in honeycomb cells. But honeydew honey from coniferous trees can also be light yellow. Honeydew honey has a less pronounced aroma, depending on the source of the honeydew: it can be unpleasant, have a burnt sugar smell, or have none. The consistency is syrupy, viscous, honey does not melt in the mouth for a long time. Honeydew honey, being cheaper, is mainly used in baking and confectionery production.

3.Mixed honey consists of a natural mixture of flower or honeydew honeys. Polyfloral, or mixed (prefabricated), flower honey bees are collected from various plants.

Usually such honey is called according to the place of its collection:

Mountain
Lugovoi
steppe
Forest

Sometimes honey from one or more plants predominates in such honey, but more often it contains honey collected by bees from the flowers of many plants in certain proportions. The characteristic of mixed honey is not constant. Its color can be from light and light yellow to dark, aroma and taste - from tender and weak to sharp, crystallization to coarse-grained. Sometimes mixed honey may contain an admixture of honeydew.

Blended honey obtained by mixing different botanical varieties of honey to equalize their performance (color, aroma, taste).

So, when a small amount of dark buckwheat honey is added to light fireweed honey, honey is obtained that has a pleasant taste and color. Blending of honey is carried out only in the conditions of honey packaging enterprises, if it is necessary to improve the presentation of the sold honey. Honey is thoroughly mixed manually or with the help of mechanical mixers, allowed to settle, after which the foam is removed from the surface of the honey.

Among flower monofloral honeys, the most common are the following:

Acacia honey is made from white acacia flowers. Very light, transparent, crystallizes slowly. The crystals are fine-grained. Color - from white to golden yellow. It is in particular demand among honey gourmets because of its delicate spicy aroma and very delicate taste. Belongs to one of the best varieties.
Hawthorn honey is high quality, dark in color, bitter in taste, with a specific aroma.
Heather honey is common in the forest regions of the north and north-west of our country. It is characterized by a strong aroma, specific (tart) taste. In liquid form, honey is dark amber, sometimes with a reddish tinge. It is pumped out of the combs with great difficulty or not pumped out at all; it is of little use for wintering bees.
Cornflower honey bees are harvested from a good honey plant - blue and field cornflower. Honey is greenish-yellow in color, has a pleasant aroma with the smell of almonds and a bitter aftertaste.
Buckwheat honey has a color palette ranging from dark yellow to dark brown with a reddish tint. The darkest with a cherry tint is freshly pumped honey. It crystallizes into a homogeneous, most often coarse-grained mass of dark yellow or brown color. It has a peculiar pungent taste and pleasant aroma, which makes it easy to distinguish it from other honeys.
Mustard honey is white or light yellow in color and quickly crystallizes into a fine-grained mass. It has a delicate aroma and pleasant taste.
Sweet clover honey is collected from sweet clover flowers and has a very delicate and pleasant taste and aroma with a hint of vanilla. Honey is very light, watery white. Sometimes (depending on the soil) it has a golden or slightly greenish hue. Rated as one of the best varieties.
Angelica honey is dark brown or reddish amber. It has a specific taste and aroma, reminiscent of the smell of caramel. Very viscous, especially at low temperatures. Crystallizes slowly.
Bees prepare fireweed honey from pollen and nectar of lilac-red flowers of fireweed (willow-herb). Honey has a delicate taste and aroma. In liquid form it is transparent-watery, in a crystallized state it is white. It crystallizes very quickly, often even in combs, the cage is greasy or fine-grained.
Clover honey is collected from white and yellow creeping clovers and has a delicate aroma and delicate taste.
Maple honey has a light color, delicate aroma and excellent taste.
Chestnut honey is bitter in taste, light, sometimes darkish.
Linden honey. The best sort of honey, it has an extremely strong and pleasant aroma of flowering linden, its own specific taste, which is easily recognized even when mixed with other honey. The color of honey is white, sometimes completely transparent, often light amber, rarely yellowish or greenish. In liquid form, honey is transparent-watery, the cage is fine-grained or greasy.
Sunflower honey in liquid form is bright yellow, golden or light amber in color, sometimes with a greenish tint. It is distinguished by a delicate tart aftertaste, which decreases somewhat as it crystallizes, and a faint pleasant aroma. Characterized by rapid crystallization. The crystals are large, yellow or light amber in color, reminiscent of melted butter. Crystallization takes place even during the wintering of bees.
Drunk, or poisonous, honey. It is formed from the nectar that bees collect from azaleas, rhododendrons, and other plants in the Caucasus mountains. When using this honey, a person develops signs of intoxication, nausea, dizziness, and fever. With long-term storage, the toxicity of honey disappears.
Tobacco honey, like chestnut honey, is bitter in taste, dark in color. They are mainly used in the food industry.
Cotton honey has a peculiar taste and aroma. In liquid form, it is almost colorless, and in the crystallized state, it is white. Crystallizes very quickly, already in combs, coarse-grained cage.

This list can be continued... The great length of our country from North to South and from West to East creates a variety of natural conditions for the growth of honey plants. Each region of the country is distinguished by its specifics and determines the appropriate spectrum of honey according to botanical origin.

Varieties of honey are defined:

on the lands where honey is collected (meadow, steppe, forest, mountain);
by color;
according to the place of origin (for example, Bashkir honey has a “pungent” taste and a special aroma, or Altai honey is a unique honey, it has distinctive healing properties and a unique aroma, environmentally friendly: pristine nature has been preserved in Altai, clean mountain air, unique and diverse vegetable world);
according to the method of obtaining (cellular and centrifugal - this is when honey is pumped out of honeycombs in a honey extractor).

By color, honey is divided into the following groups:

Colorless (transparent, white) - white-acacia, raspberry, white-clover, white-melilot.
Light yellow - linden, red-clover, sage, yellow-melilot, field.
Yellow - sunflower, pumpkin, cucumber, alfalfa, meadow, mustard.
Dark yellow - buckwheat, heather, chestnut, tobacco, forest.
Dark (with various shades) - cherry, citrus, from deciduous trees, some types of honeydew honey.

According to the technological principle, honey can be:

Cellular . This is honey, which is sold in combs of both store and nesting frames, provided that the bees did not breed brood in them.
Sectional . This is honeycomb enclosed in special sections, the walls of which are usually made of thin plywood or food-grade plastic. Usually the section contains 400 - 500 g of honey;
Pressed . Such honey is obtained only in the case when it is not possible to pump it out in a honey extractor. This is honey collected from heather by bees. When squeezing this honey, the beekeeper is forced to violate the integrity of the rebuilt benign combs;
centrifugal. This is honey obtained by pumping out on a honey extractor. The properties of honey, its taste, smell, color do not change. A honey extractor is a piece of bee equipment used to produce centrifugal honey. The sealed combs with honey are first opened with a special beekeeping knife, then inserted into the honey extractor and rotated. Under the action of centrifugal force, honey flies out of the cells and flows down the walls of the honey extractor into a tank, at the bottom of which there is a hole for draining the resulting honey into containers (milk jars or other).
Melted or bath (honey flowing from honeycombs under the influence of high temperatures - "kapanets" - in the old days such honey was obtained in Russian baths, hence its name). The highest quality.

Buying honey will require special knowledge on how to choose honey, since you can often find a fake when sugar, starch, flour are mixed into honey, it is diluted. Honey should be homogeneous, smoothly flowing in a jar from one wall to another. The label must contain the standard, variety, botanical type of honey, the time and place of its collection, the name and address of the supplier.

Bactericidal activity of honey(the ability to stop the growth of pathogenic bacteria) depends on its botanical origin. Maximum bactericidal activity is observed in honeydew spruce, pine and fir honey, as well as flower honey from chestnuts. Minimal - for honey from linden, heather, hogweed, clover.

On the market, the maturity of honey, which is an indicator of its quality. The latter can be determined by winding honey on a spoon. Ripe, high-quality honey should not drip from a spoon.

Dip the stick in honey. Real honey will follow it with a long thread, and when it breaks, it first forms a turret on the surface of the honey, then it disperses slowly. Fake honey will drip down and splatter.

By density they distinguish:

very liquid honey - honey from acacia, clover,
liquid - honey from rapeseed, buckwheat, linden,
thick - dandelion honey, unique sainfoin honey,
sticky - honeydew honey,
gelatinous - honey from heather.

“If you drop iodine on honey and it turns blue, does it mean that flour, starch was added to the honey?”

Experts assess this method as incorrect. Moreover, starch in a small amount can be introduced into honey by the bees themselves. But, on the other hand, starch syrup in honey, of course, should not be present. Again, it’s better not to diagnose honey yourself, but to ask the seller for a quality certificate issued by a laboratory that indicates the diastase number (diastase is an enzyme that bees secrete to break down starch). For acacia honey, it cannot be less than seven, for spring honey - 13, buckwheat honey has a diastasis of the order of 24-39. One of the most important indicators of the quality of honey is its moisture content. It should not exceed 21%. The moisture content of honey must also be indicated in the quality certificate.

Smell honey: real honey is fragrant, fragrant, and adulterated, as a rule, odorless.

sour smell, as well as the presence of air bubbles and foam on the surface in honey may indicate the fermentation of the product. Fermentation of honey can occur if the product is not properly stored. Such honey is not desirable to eat.

It is also worth paying attention to the conditions in which honey is stored.

The recommended room temperature for storing honey should not exceed 15 degrees Celsius, and air humidity - twenty percent. Higher temperatures can encourage it to ferment. Honey has the ability to absorb all the odors around it very well, so it should be in a tightly closed jar or wooden container.

In order to determine if sugar syrup has been added to honey, simply put a little honey on a piece of paper and set it on fire. If the honey melts during burning, then you have quality honey in front of you, if the honey chars, then sugar has been added to it.

Also on sale is "sugar honey", or artificial honey produced in the food industry. In terms of usefulness and medicinal properties, it practically has nothing similar to natural honey. It also has a mild fragrance. Natural honey always has a rich and bright aroma, characteristic of the honey plant from which it is collected.

It is very similar to natural, but differs in chemical composition and medicinal and nutritional qualities. It is produced in two ways - chemically or by feeding bees. Beekeepers get this honey when they feed bees with sugar syrup. It is left in the hive to feed the bees in winter, but is often taken for sale. It is very difficult to distinguish it from natural in appearance (only an examination will show its quality in terms of the ratio of monosaccharides and disaccharides). The production and sale of artificial honey is allowed under its own name, that is, as a surrogate for natural honey.

fake honey- obtained by mixing natural and artificial honey (this is the lesser evil), adding sugar, starch, chalk, sugar syrup, juice, flour and other components.

If the seller of honey in the market is given a white label. This testifies to the high quality of its honey. Blue indicates poor quality or honeydew honey.

May honey. The honey of the first stroke is often called May honey. The name "May honey" is not associated with the characteristics of bee honey and is a purely philistine name among buyers. The name comes from those ancient times when the chronology in Russia was different, and May began two weeks later than the current chronology. Then the first honey was pumped out this month. What is usually passed off as fresh May honey is most often old honey, heated to make it clear. It is extremely undesirable to buy such honey, as it accumulates a harmful substance - the carcinogen methylfurfural. You can determine that this is old heated honey, again, by asking the seller for a quality certificate and checking the diastase number - heated honey has less.

The best option to avoid low-quality or fake products is to buy honey in combs, as wax contains many useful substances.

We used to think that the best honey is the one that was collected from one plant: lime, buckwheat, etc., but now in the central zone of Russia, and in other areas, it is difficult to get honey from one plant.

For example, real linden honey can be collected only in the Far East, where linden makes up thirty to fifty percent of the forest area and is practically the only honey plant. In the old days, when herbicides that destroyed weeds were used on the fields, bees were forced to fly to buckwheat and collect buckwheat honey. Now, chemicals are not particularly used, and weeds, most of them beautiful honey plants, grow a lot, as a result of which the bees have a rich choice: cornflowers, colza, thistle. And therefore, at present, it is more correct to say this: linden honey with herbs, buckwheat with herbs, etc. It is interesting that honey will have a pronounced taste and smell of buckwheat already when there is only ten percent of buckwheat nectar. Experts note that honey collected from other honey plants (including from the same cornflowers or colza) is no worse in quality than the varieties familiar to us.

From Russian history

" Once upon a time, Catherine II issued a Decree to flog merchants with "sparse" honey in November and later. Unfortunately, this Decree is not currently being implemented, and therefore, before the New Year, and even in spring, the shelves in Russian stores are completely filled with transparent uncandied "honey", i.e. a deliberate forgery."

The only true guarantee of the quality of the purchased honey is a personal acquaintance with the beekeeper, confidence in his integrity and the knowledge that his apiary is located in a safe area. Therefore, it is best to buy honey from a familiar beekeeper right in his apiary. And one beekeeper cannot have honey from the North Caucasus and the Far East at the same time.

It is very difficult to find real honey with royal jelly. Only a few grams can be collected from one hive of royal jelly.

According to the conclusion of the professor of the Agricultural Academy. Timiryazeva Yu. A. Cherevko:

“... all varieties of natural honey improve heart function, strengthen the nervous system, blood vessels, increase immunity, stimulate excretory systems and improve the functioning of the gastrointestinal tract, increase potency, etc., that is, they have a beneficial effect on our health in general ".

Therefore, there is no honey specifically designed to treat any one disease.

The color of honey depending on its origin

№	Plant	honey color
01	Apricot ordinary	brown yellow
02	Acacia	pale yellow
03	Hawthorn	dark brown
04	Cornflower	meadow brown
05	Veronica	white
06	Common cherry	light brown
07	Mustard white	lemon yellow
08	Common buckwheat	dark brown
09	Pear	light green
10	Sweet clover yellow	golden yellow
11	Oak	yellow-green
12	Honeysuckle Tatar	yellow-hot
13	Willow	light yellow
14	Blooming Sally	green
15	horse chestnut	burgundy
16	common chestnut	Dark red
17	white clover	brown
18	clover red	chocolate
19	Norway maple	dark yellow
20	Tatar maple	grayish white
21	Sycamore maple	greyish yellow
22	Mullein	meadow brown
23	Linden	pale green
24	Alfalfa	dirty gray
25	Raspberries	grayish white
26	Fescue team	white
27	Dandelion officinalis	orange
28	walnut	yellow-green
29	Plantain	grayish white
30	Sunflower	golden yellow
31	Rape	lemon yellow
32	radish	pale yellow
33	Common bruise	Navy blue
34	Plum	yellowish brown
35	Phacelia	blue
36	Cherries	yellow brown
37	Sainfoin	brown
38	Apple tree	dirty yellow

The color of honey can vary from very light, almost white, to a dark brown tone. The color of honey will depend on the time at which the honey was harvested, from which plants, the state of crystallization. In addition, the color of honey can be influenced by the breed of bees, as well as the method of obtaining this product, the condition and quality of the combs. During the short-term, in which the bribes are very plentiful, the honey is light in tone.

The color and quality of botanical natural honey can be influenced by many factors. Which should include climate, geographical location, chemical composition of the soil, season, weather conditions, breed of honey bees, honey plants, and so on.

This can be seen in the example of linden honey. Collected in the Far East in the spring, it will be of a lighter tone than collected in the autumn. Coloring substances in nectar that affect color are carotene, chlorophyll, xaltophil.

It is generally accepted that the lighter the honey among the botanical varieties, the higher its quality. So, the well-known is of high quality and belongs to the first-class. But, despite the popularity of linden honey, it can also be dark in color. And this is explained by the fact that when collecting nectar from linden flowers, bees can also pick up honeydew.

Honey is sorted into four groups: white or colorless; cream or amber; yellow or amber; brown or brown.

Which honey is dark and why?

What kind of honey has a light shade and why?

It is known that honey is divided into monofloral and polyfloral. If bees get when collecting nectar from many flowering plants, then monofloral - from only one flowering species. Monofloral type of honey is a rather rare phenomenon. Polyfloral species include meadow, forest, steppe, mountain, taiga, Altai, etc.

After the honey has passed, its color will take on a lighter tone. It is noticed that among the white varieties of honey there are practically no lower ones.
most transparent and light honey is acacia. A more familiar color for honey is yellow.
Over time, honey begins to lose its original color and darkens, but after crystallization - brightens again.

Tricks of the beekeeper: what dyes can be added to honey

The dyes in honey are not that easy to spot, so sometimes beekeepers use tricks and add them to honey. As for research in this area, there are very few of them. Therefore, it is difficult for ordinary people to determine whether dyes are contained in honey. We only know that we are dealing with phenolic compounds, flavones and flavonoids, they are vegetable dyes. With such dyes, honey can be given the desired color, and they should not particularly affect the taste.

Certain flavonoids can be determined using liquid chromatography. Beekeeping professionals use grader(a device for clarifying the color of liquid honey). Each variety of honey has its own color, peculiar only to him. So experienced beekeepers will always distinguish honey with dyes from natural.