The taste of honey has been known to people since ancient times. Avicenna spoke about its beneficial influence. But only high-quality natural honey can have a healing effect on the human body. Varieties of this unique product differ from each other in taste, texture and composition of trace elements.

What is honey like?

Depending on the plants from which the nectar was collected, honey is divided into polyfloral and monofloral.

Monofloral honey contains 60-90% of nectar from one plant. It is extremely rare in its pure form; in order to obtain it, some kind of honey plant must prevail in the area of ​​the summer of bees. For example, pure linden honey can only be obtained in the Far East (where it is the main honey plant). Most often this is possible when a certain agricultural crop is cultivated nearby.

It is collected from various plants in approximately the same proportions. Monofloral varieties do not surpass polyfloral honey in useful qualities.

Varieties of honey depending on the place of collection: steppe, meadow, forest, mountain, fruit. There are also geographical divisions into "Altai", "Bashkir", "Far Eastern" honey and so on.

Species by botanical origin

Bees make their honey not only from flower nectar. Varieties of natural honey - flower (a product of nectar processing), honeydew (made from honeydew and honeydew) and mixed (consisting of honeydew and flower honey). Pad is a thick sweet secretion of insects that live on plants and feed on their juice. Bees willingly collect it for processing. Honeydew honey is not so tasty, but it has special healing qualities and is considered one of the most valuable varieties in Europe.

Varieties of honey and their properties

According to the method of pre-sale preparation, honey can be of two types: honeycomb and centrifugal. Centrifugal honey is more popular, honeycomb is more useful. Wax is an ideal storage for honey, comb honey retains biologically active substances and vitamins much longer.

Separation by consistency

There is a division into liquid and shrunken (crystallized) honey. Varieties of honey by viscosity: very liquid, liquid, thick, gelatinous.

Crystallization is a natural process, as a result of which healing properties are not lost. Settled honey in consistency is coarse-grained, fine-grained and fat-like.

Also, the species differ in color, transparency, taste and aroma.

Valuable, unique and common honey

Varieties of honey according to taste can be conditionally divided into rare and ordinary varieties. Common, widely produced: sweet clover, sunflower, rapeseed, buckwheat. Clover, linden, buckwheat, sweet clover honey are considered the best in composition, healing and taste qualities.

Unique varieties include pure lime angelica and acacia. Honey collected from acacia is almost transparent and very liquid. It can stand without sugaring for up to three years.

Honey is a very strange thing...

Often, sellers give free rein to their imagination and, in pursuit of the exotic, invent incredible types of honey. So, forgetting biology lessons at school and boldly endowing them with non-existent flowers, sellers began to promote such species as Pine, Cedar, Cypress, Fir, and so on. These varieties are considered artificial. They have nothing to do with natural honey. They are made from sugar syrup with the addition of flavors and dyes.

The same can be said about "Sea buckthorn", "Shipovnikov" and "Chamomile" honey products. These plants have pollen, but cannot be honey plants - they do not produce nectar at all or produce it in meager amounts.

Very little nectar is given by thistle and yarrow flowers. And ginseng and (golden root) are so rare that it is impossible to get honey from them.

People who want to improve their health with the help of such a product should understand that high quality natural honey can only be obtained from honey plants that grow in large numbers within a radius of 6 km. from the apiary. And paying 800 rubles for a sweetener with a promising name is stupid.

And you don't know what to choose? We will tell you what varieties of amber delicacy are and how they differ from each other.

Classification of honey by botanical origin

Natural honey can be floral, honeydew or mixed. It is possible to accurately determine whether a delicacy belongs to one of the three types only in special laboratories. flower honey obtained when bees process plant nectar.

honeydew honey formed when insects collect honeydew and honeydew. Honeydew is secreted by the cells of trees and shrubs in the form of a sweetish resinous substance. And honeydew is a thick liquid secreted by aphids and other insects that feed on plant juices.

This kind of honey is not suitable for bees to eat because of the high content of minerals, but it is very useful for humans. The dessert is distinguished by a dark shade, a dense and thick texture and a slight bitter aftertaste. It is almost never found in its pure form in Russia.

mixed honey varieties are a natural mixture of flower and honeydew honeys.

Types of flower honey

Honey collected from plants of the same species is called monofloral. It bears the name of a honey plant (linden, hawthorn, fireweed, sunflower, buckwheat, acacia, etc.). A product collected from various plant species is called polyfloral honey (prefabricated, flower). Its name comes from the place where the honey was collected.

How to distinguish varieties of honey according to the place of collection?

Caring bees work in natural areas with various zonal and landscape features. Depending on where the apiary stood, the following groups are distinguished (each of them includes several varieties of honey):

1. field honey. This is a common and very affordable type of polyfloral honey, which is collected most often in the steppe and forest-steppe areas. It has a pleasant aroma of wild herbs.
2. meadow honey. Extracted from plants of plain and alpine meadows. It is valued above the previous one, since it is more difficult to assemble it.
3. Taiga honey. An elite type of honey with amazing qualities and aroma. He comes from apiaries in the taiga zones. Many of the honey plants for such a delicacy grow only in this area.
4. mountain honey. Apiary lands in the highlands require a lot of work, so this honey is more expensive than the rest. The value lies also in its unique composition.

Dark or light?

According to color qualities, light and dark honey varieties are distinguished. The pigments come from the flower from which the nectar is collected. TO light varieties include sweet clover, linden, acacia and other varieties of honey with a light pleasant taste. Dark varieties(buckwheat, heather, chestnut, etc.) are distinguished by a thicker, richer taste with spicy bitterness. It is believed that there are more vitamins in light honey, and trace elements important for the human body (iron, manganese, copper) and protein compounds - in dark honey.

Varieties of honey by consistency (viscosity)

Freshly extracted honey can be liquid(clover, acacia) and more thick(coniferous, heather). It is also known that honey collected in humid weather is thinner than that obtained in a dry summer. When stored after 1-2 months, honey gradually becomes cloudy and candied, becoming dense and sometimes even hard. Candied honey can have a fine-grained structure (crystals less than 0.5 mm) and coarse-grained (crystals more than 0.5 mm). Due to the increased content of colloidal substances, protein compounds and polysaccharides, honey from flowers of acacia, sage, cherry and honeydew is sugared more slowly; faster - alfalfa, buckwheat, sunflower, sainfoin.

We choose honey according to the method of extraction and processing

On a technological basis, honey is divided into

• centrifugal,
• cellular,
• sectional,
• pressed.

Centrifugal honey is pumped out using a honey extractor. Comb honey, completely pure and mature, is sold in natural packaging - in honeycombs. Sectional comb honey is enclosed in special plywood or plastic sections. Pressed honey is obtained by squeezing - the honeycomb breaks.

Choosing the treasured jar in the store, everyone certainly wants to buy the best honey. However, there is no single answer to the question: what kind of honey is better, tastier and healthier? Remember, depending on the variety, the bee delicacy will have a different taste, aroma and differ in the list of healing properties. Before you pay the seller, read the description of the variety you like. The presence of a certificate of conformity will also give confidence that the product is not falsified, corresponds to the honey plant declared on the label, the place and time of collection.

We wish you delicious and healthy purchases and longevity!

What only names of honey you will not meet at the fair. As a beekeeper and honey market expert, I know that the lion's share of this honey is fake. Approximately 80% of honey cannot be called natural. In most cases, this is a HONEY PRODUCT. How is it made? For the manufacture of a honey product, the cheapest varieties of honey are taken (that is why Voronezh buys hundreds of tons of sunflower honey). About 60% high fructose corn syrup is added. Further dyes, flavors, flavor enhancers and other ingredients. All this is mixed or whipped and give the appearance of cream-honey. The viscosity is then chemically stabilized. For the category of honeys “with royal jelly”, the dye titanium dioxide-E171 is used (the assumption of the potential harm of titanium dioxide: studies on rats have shown that inhalation of titanium dioxide powder increases the likelihood of cancer, being carcinogenic to humans. For children, this food supplement is considered harmful). Such a product does not have any useful properties, but on the contrary, due to the large number of additives, it can cause allergies or poisoning. Be carefull!

The volume of honey product on the Russian market is colossal. Even one plant produces "honey" 2-3 times more than all beekeepers in Altai. No one knows exactly how many of these factories there are. One thing is for sure, every year the number of honey products on the market will increase, and real honey will become more difficult to find than black caviar.

The current state of the honey market is, in fact, a spit in the face of domestic beekeeping, which still exists “in spite of”, and not “thanks to” ...

This database contains the names of honeys under the guise of which this sweet paste is sold. The database will be updated and improved ...

If you buy such honey solely for its confectionery properties, then you can not read further this article, but continue to use this product along with sweets.

Non-existent varieties of honey

Honey wild rose. Honey Tea rose. Honey Rosehip. Wild rose honey. Honey from wild rose hips.

Wild rose (wild rose) does not produce marketable honey. This honey is fake. Do not buy this kind of honey! Wild rose honey is a honey product.

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Honey Borovaya uterus. Honey with boron uterus. Women's honey.

The womb herb is very popular among women, but the womb honey is fake. Do not buy this kind of honey! Boron queen honey is a honey product.

For search: buy honey from a pine forest uterus, sale of honey from a pine forest uterus, benefits of honey from a pine forest uterus.

Honey Hawthorn. Honey from hawthorn.

Commercial honey from hawthorn is impossible to get! Under the guise of hawthorn honey, cheap varieties are usually sold. Molasses, thickeners, flavors, flavor enhancers are added to the composition of the product. The name "Hawthorn" began to be used for honey due to the universal fame of the healing properties of the boyarka. This honey is fake.

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Honey Elecampane. Honey with Elecampane.

Another honey-indicator of the factory sweet paste. If it is in the window, then in front of you is a rogue seller. Elecampane honey does not exist. This honey is fake. Corn syrup, thickeners, flavors, flavor enhancers are added to the product composition.

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Honey of wild bees. Wild honey. Bortevoy (bortevoy) honey.

The most popular honey among sellers. This honey does not exactly match the name. Firstly, there are no wild bees in Russia. Secondly, beet honey is obtained in a very meager amount. Thirdly, beehive honey is no more useful than honey obtained from an ordinary hive (marketing ploy).

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Ginseng honey. Royal ginseng. Honey Ginseng.

There is no mention of ginseng as a honey plant in any literature. This honey is fake. Do not buy this kind of honey! Sunflower honey is usually sold under the guise of such honey. And sunflower honey is much cheaper. Flavorings and flavoring additives are added to improve taste. To reduce the cost, high fructose molasses is added at the plant.

To search: buy ginseng honey, sale of ginseng honey, benefits of ginseng honey.

Honey Kandyk. Honey from Kandyk. Honey Kandyk Siberian.

This honey is fake. Do not buy this kind of honey! Under the guise of such honey, they usually sell honey from sunflower, buckwheat, rapeseed or sainfoin. Flavorings and flavoring additives are added to improve taste. To reduce the cost, high fructose molasses is added at the plant. It is impossible to get marketable honey from kandyk. We speak to you as beekeepers of Western Siberia. It is here that this “wonderful” honey plant grows, from which all of Russia is littered with honey. Blooms in late April - early May. We have had years when bees are put out from wintering only in May, because. it's freezing and snowing!

For search: buy honey from kandyk, sale of honey from kandyk, benefits of honey from kandyk.

Honey from Lotus. Honey Lotus. Honey Lotus with royal jelly.

There is no mention of the lotus as a honey plant in any literature. This honey is fake. Do not buy this kind of honey! Sunflower honey is usually sold under the guise of such honey. To change the taste, various additives and flavors are added. To reduce the cost, high fructose molasses is added at the plant.

To search: buy lotus honey, sell lotus honey, benefits of lotus honey.

Royal honey. Honey Royal Velvet.

This type of honey does not exist. There are no plants with that name. The mysterious name is not a type of honey. Honey under this name has the right to sell only the owner of the trademark. What kind of honey is sold under this brand is unknown. Has a creamy texture. Honey "royal velvet" is not a variety of honey, so it deserves to be included in this database.

To search: buy royal honey, sell honey from royal velvet, the benefits of royal velvet honey.

Honey Red Brush. Honey from the Red Brush. Women's honey. Honey Borovaya uterus. Honey from Borovaya Matka.

honey product. Neither the red brush (rhodiola) nor the upland queen (ortilia) produce any honey! Since the two plants are known to everyone for their beneficial properties, it is their names that are used by crooks to attract gullible buyers, especially women. Sometimes sellers say that this is honey with the addition of an extract of medicinal plants. If so, then ask the sellers for documents on dietary supplements. There are no documents - get out of there while the money is intact. In any case, to add “something” to honey, you need to move it all and heat it up, otherwise the fermentation process may begin. Most likely only the name is being sold.

Fake. Don't buy this honey. Such honey can harm your health!

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Peach honey. Honey from peach. Kiva honey. Honey with Kiwi. Pineapple honey. Honey from pineapple.

Few people believe in the existence of such varieties of honey, but for some reason the smell of peach, kiwi or pineapple attracts buyers. Do not buy such honey! Under the guise of such honey, they usually sell honey from sunflower, buckwheat, rapeseed or sainfoin. Flavorings and flavoring additives are added to improve taste. To reduce the cost, high fructose molasses is added at the plant.

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Sea buckthorn honey. Sea buckthorn honey.

Sea buckthorn is not a honey plant. In addition, sea buckthorn is a wind-pollinated shrub. Under the guise of sea buckthorn honey, sunflower or buckwheat cream honey is usually sold, to which molasses, flavorings, flavor enhancers and other additives are added. Such honey is called a honey product and is produced in factories. Do not buy this honey!

For search: buy sea buckthorn honey, sale of sea buckthorn honey, benefits of sea buckthorn honey.

Honey Hazelnut. Honey from Hazelnut.

This honey is definitely fake. Under its guise, they sell cream honey from sunflower, rapeseed, and buckwheat. During production, molasses, flavors, flavor enhancers and other additives are added. Such honey is called a honey product and is produced in factories. Do not buy such honey, it is not natural. No health benefits!

To search: buy hazelnut honey, sale of hazelnut honey, benefits of hazelnut honey.

Cedar honey. Honey Kedrovy Bor. Honey from cedar.

Another non-existent variety of honey. Usually a mixture of cheap honeys, molasses and cedar flavor. Sometimes cedar resin is added, but then they write the name Honey with resin. In any case, this is not real honey and you should not buy this product!

For search: buy cedar honey, sale of cedar honey, benefits of cedar honey.

Honey Celandine. Honey from Celandine.

The celandine plant gives the bees only pollen. There is no honey from celandine! You have been sold or are trying to sell a fake!

For search: buy honey from celandine, sale of honey from celandine, benefits of honey from celandine.

Pumpkin honey. Honey from Pumpkin.

It is impossible to get marketable honey from a pumpkin! The sellers explain that pumpkin honey comes from forage gourd fields. According to laboratory studies, rapeseed and sunflower honey are sold under the guise of pumpkin honey. Flavorings are added to change the taste. To reduce the cost, high fructose molasses is mixed in.

For search: buy honey from pumpkin, sale of pumpkin honey, benefits of pumpkin honey.

Honeysuckle honey. Honey from Honeysuckle.

To search: buy raspberry honey, buy raspberry honey, sale of raspberry honey, benefits of raspberry honey.

Milk thistle honey. Milk thistle honey. Milk thistle honey.

Another variety of falsified honey, which is so named due to the well-known benefits of milk thistle itself. Milk thistle cleanses the liver, removes toxins. That is why almost all sellers selling "names" have this variety. At best, under the guise of milk thistle honey, you will buy cheap sunflower cream honey. Flavorings and flavoring additives are added to improve taste. To reduce the cost, high fructose molasses is added. Ask the seller for pollen analysis results. If there is no analysis, you should know that this is a fake. At fairs or honey festivals, you will probably not find real honey from milk thistle.

Real milk thistle honey is not easy to find. Milk thistle is a weak honey plant. Reluctantly visited by bees. Demanding on the weather.

To search: buy kurai honey, buy kurai honey, sale of kurai honey, benefits of kurai honey, female ginseng honey.

Blended honey

Honey Cornflower-Acacia.

Acacia blooms in May-June. Cornflower blooms in July-August. Therefore, this kind of honey can only be obtained as a result of blending two different varieties of honey. As a rule, blends are made in factories, maybe something else is added. Therefore, in order to buy good honey, ask the seller for a pollen analysis protocol for this type of honey.

To search: buy cornflower-acacia honey, sale of cornflower-acacia honey, benefits of cornflower-acacia honey.

Fireweed-Valerian honey.

Another beautiful, attractive name. Ask the seller for a pollen analysis protocol, draw conclusions. If there is no analysis, then you have a honey product or some completely different kind of honey.

Honey with additives

Fireweed honey with royal jelly. Royal jelly honey. Goof silver with royal jelly.

Any variety of honey with royal jelly is a common ploy to increase the price. The appearance of such honey is always the same. Unnaturally white, creamy texture. There is a taste of milk. If you bought just such honey, then congratulations, you bought a honey product. It does not contain a single gram of royal jelly, it may not even contain honey. This is a completely useless product. Do not believe in its miraculous properties, do not give in to your emotions.

If you mix real honey with real royal jelly in a ratio of 1 to 100 (10 g of pure milk per 1 kg of honey), then 1 kg of such honey will cost MINIMUM 3,500 rubles (excluding the cost of honey). With a 0.1% content of royal jelly, honey will cost 800-900 rubles per 1 kg.

If you really need royal jelly, then buy it in a pharmacy or in a specialized beekeeping products store in an adsorbed form.

Main types of honey: floral and honeydew (forest). Which in turn are already divided into different varieties.

Also, to create new varieties of honey, they are mixed, if you choose and mix different varieties correctly, this improves the quality, and not the right selection, on the contrary, can only make it worse.

If honey has a pronounced acid taste, this indicates the presence of acetic bacteria that appear after alcoholic fermentation, such honey is considered spoiled.

Flower honey is monofloral and polyfloral.

monofloral- processed from the nectar of one type of honey plant, for example, linden, buckwheat, acacia, etc. Honey from one type of honey plant is very rare, because. it is difficult to restrict bees from all other plants, for example, except for buckwheat. Therefore, monofloral honey is considered to be such honey, in which the pollen of any one plant predominates.

Since the bees cannot be restricted in their movement and are found only in a particular type of bloom, obtaining 100% pure monofloral honey is almost impossible. To produce a monoflora variety, beekeepers must find honey bees in a particular region where there are many stocks of a particular flowering plant. In addition, beekeepers must clean the hives of honey residue so that the new batch does not mix with honey obtained from different flower varieties.

polyfloral- processed from the nectar of various honey plants, for example, meadow, taiga, forest.

Different types of honey

Some varieties of honey can be identified by color, aroma and taste. Different varieties differ from each other not only in color, but also in many shades.

Acacia (white acacia) honey

White acacia honey is considered one of the best. Possesses excellent tastes and thin, gentle aroma. In a fresh liquid form, this honey is transparent, candied (crystallized) has a white color, fine-grained. Crystallizes slowly. 1 hectare of white locust bees are able to get 1700 kg of honey. If you look at the honeycombs of this honey, they seem empty.

Honey from yellow acacia flowers in a liquid state is very light, crystallized - white, medium grain, becomes like lard. From 1 hectare of yellow acacia, bees receive 350 kg of honey.

barberry honey

It has a golden yellow color, fragrant and delicate in taste. Bees get this honey from the Barberry shrub, which is valued for its hemostatic properties.

Budyakovy (tatarnik, thistle) honey

Budyak, he is a prickly Tatar. Premium honey. It can be colorless, greenish, golden, has a pleasant aroma and taste. During crystallization, it becomes fine-grained.

Borage honey (borage)

It has a transparent color, light, pleasant taste. From 1 hectare of borage bees get 200 kg of honey.

Cornflower honey

It has a greenish-yellow color, its aroma resembles the smell of almonds, the taste is slightly bitter.

heather honey

It has a dark, dark yellow or red-brown color, a weak aroma and a tart, bitter taste. This type of honey slowly crystallizes and has a viscous consistency. From 1 hectare of heather bees get 200 kg of honey.

mustard honey

In liquid form, it has a golden color, crystallized honey has a yellowish-cream color. 1 hectare of mustard bees can get 40 kg of honey.

Pea honey

Collected from the flowers of thin-leaved peas, which grows in the steppe areas of Siberia. It has a transparent color, delicate aroma and taste. Bees receive up to 5 kg of honey per day.

Buckwheat honey

Buckwheat honey has a dark red or brown color. It has a pronounced peculiar, spicy taste from which it tickles in the throat and a pleasant aroma. During crystallization, it becomes fine-grained or coarse-grained, mushy. Compared to light varieties, it contains more iron and proteins. From 1 hectare of flowering buckwheat, 60 kg of honey is obtained.

sweet clover honey

Premium honey. It has a light amber or white color, a delicate and pleasant aroma. During crystallization, it becomes fine-grained or coarse-grained, acquires a white color. Composition of sweet clover honey: 36.78% glucose, 39.59 fructose. From 1 ha, bees receive 200 kg of honey, from 1 ha of cultivated sweet clover - 600 kg.

angelica honey

It has a brownish-red color with a greenish tint. It has a viscous, viscous texture. The taste is rich, bitterness may be present.

blackberry honey

It has an absolutely transparent color, very tasty. From 1 hectare of blackberry bees get 20 kg of honey.

snakehead honey

It has a light transparent color, has a good aroma and taste. From 1 hectare of snakehead bees get 300 kg of honey.

willow honey

Has a golden yellow color, high taste. Crystallized honey - fine-grained, creamy shade. Bees receive up to 3-4 kg of honey per day.

hyssop honey

Premium honey.

stone honey

Stone honey is collected by wild bees. It has a yellow color, pleasant aroma and taste. Rock honey is a crystallized substance that is chipped from honeycombs. This honey is practically non-sticky, it

chestnut honey

Low grade honey. It has a dark color, weak aroma and unpleasant taste.

Kenaf honey

Fresh honey has a yellowish cloudy color and is unpleasant in taste. From 1 hectare bees receive 40 kg of honey.

Fireweed honey (Ivan tea)

Transparent with a greenish tinge, has a delicate mild aroma and pleasant taste. After crystallization becomes white, granular. Crystallizes quickly. Turns yellow when heated. From 1 hectare of fireweed (willow-herb) bees receive 600 kg of honey.

clover honey

Colorless, transparent, very tasty. One of the best grades of light honey. After crystallization becomes white and solid. Composition of clover honey: 34.96% glucose, 40.24% levulose (fructose). From 1 hectare of white clover, bees receive 100 kg of honey.

maple honey

Light honey, with excellent taste. From 1 hectare of maple bees get 200 kg of honey.

coriander honey

It has a sharp aroma and specific taste. From 1 hectare of coriander bees get 500 kg of honey.

Lavender honey

Premium honey. Has a delicate aroma.

swallow honey

It has a light color with a yellow tint, a delicate aroma and a wonderful taste. From 1 hectare of swallowtail bees get 600 kg of honey.

Linden honey

Linden honey is one of the best varieties of honey. Very pleasant taste, very sweet. It has a delicate aroma of linden flowers. Liquid honey has a transparent, slightly yellow or greenish color. After crystallization, it becomes white, with a golden hue, coarse-grained, it can also be cloudy yellow, of a greasy consistency. From 1 hectare of linden bees receive 1000 kg of honey. Crystallizes in 3-4 months.

Linden honey ("Ufa"). Light amber in color with a very subtle and strong aroma. During crystallization, it becomes dense and fine-grained. In rare cases, it becomes coarse-grained. Compared to other linden honeys, it is very sweet.

Linden honey (Far Eastern). Watery-transparent color, with a slightly creamy tint. Subtle pleasant aroma. During crystallization, it becomes dense, greasy. Refers to the highest grades of honey.

Burdock honey

Very viscous honey. It has a sharp spicy smell. Dark olive color. From 1 hectare of burdock bees collect about 600 kg of honey.

meadow honey

Golden yellow or yellow-brown. It has a pleasant aroma and good taste. It is obtained from the nectar of various meadow flowers.

onion honey

Golden color. Fresh honey has a slight onion aroma and taste. From 1 hectare of flowering onions, 70 kg of honey is obtained.

chestnut honey

Honey collected from horse chestnut has a colorless, watery color. From an edible chestnut - dark in color, liquid, with bitterness. Crystallizes quickly.

Dandelion honey

Bright yellow or dark amber. Very thick and sticky. Smell and taste like dandelion.

cucumber honey

Light yellow or amber. It has a strong smell and taste of cucumbers.

honeydew honey

Forest honey (honeydew honey) bees collect sweet secretions from the leaves or stems of plants, they also collect the secretions of aphids and other insects. Differs in high bactericidal, in comparison with flower. Harmful to bees, but harmless to humans. Possesses the lowest tastes.

sunflower honey

Light amber color with a slight aroma, mild specific aftertaste. It crystallizes very quickly, becomes coarse-grained. In hot summers, it can crystallize right in the combs, but despite this, if the bee colony is strong, it will warm up this honey and eat it first, before the onset of severe cold weather. It has a tart aftertaste and a slight aroma of sunflower.

Rapeseed honey

From white to intense yellow. The aroma is weak. Thick in consistency. Crystallizes quickly. It is poorly soluble in water.

Rape honey

It has a greenish-yellow color, with a slight aroma and a pleasant taste. Not stored for a long time.

tobacco honey

Has light colors. Bitter in taste. It is usually not eaten.

Phacelia honey

It is considered one of the best varieties. White in color, with a delicate smell and pleasant taste.

cottonseed honey

Colorless like water. During crystallization, it becomes coarse-grained, dense, white in color with a pleasant aroma.

Sainfoin honey

It belongs to the most valuable varieties. transparent honey. It has a pleasant delicate aroma and taste. It crystallizes slowly, after which it becomes greasy in texture, with a creamy tint.

apple honey

Pale yellow, with a delicate aroma and taste. Crystallizes quickly.

Honey is obtained from the nectar of flowers of honey plants, which enters the crop of worker bees; at the same time, under the influence of saliva, part of the cane sugar turns into grape sugar - the main component of honey; this honey is regurgitated by the bees and folded into special cells in the combs, which are sealed with wax caps, after some of the water has evaporated and when the bee releases a little formic acid from its poisonous sac into the honey (to prevent the fermentation of honey).

Honey is a product of longevity. One of the population censuses and subsequent studies by sociologists established that beekeepers or members of their families predominate among long-term residents (over 100 years).

As if everyone knows about honey. But not everyone knows that the body of Alexander the Great, who died during campaigns in the Middle East, was transported for burial to the capital of Macedonia, immersed in honey as a preservative.

But not everyone knows that different varieties of honey are useful and suitable for treatment in different ways. This can be learned from ancient handwritten texts, which describe the characteristics of many varieties of honey and recommendations for the use of honey for the treatment of various diseases, as well as from ancient medical books.

Good honey has a delicate aromatic smell. The aroma of honey is characteristic of this variety and is due to the content of various substances brought with nectar (120 names), among which there are esters, aldehydes, ketones, alcohols, carboxyl compounds. Honey produced by bees from sugar syrup without nectar impurities, has no smell. Aromatic substances are volatile, so the smell of honey weakens over time. The color and smell of honey depend entirely on the respective qualities of the flower nectar from which it is prepared by bees.

Light varieties of honey (acacia, linden, etc.) are considered the most valuable. The exception is buckwheat. At the same time, dark varieties are richer in mineral substances that are valuable for the body.

Rules for consumers who want to purchase high-quality natural honey:

• Honey must be purchased in stores where veterinary control over its quality is carried out, if the seller has documents confirming its quality.
• Honey offered in the system<<сетевого маркетинга>> with home delivery, as a rule, has an unknown origin. In such cases, falsification is very likely.
• Freshly pumped honey does not flow from the spoon when it is rotated, but when it drains, it lies in a slide.
• In October, all natural honey, as a rule, should be crystallized. The only exception is white acacia honey from white acacia, which has a mild crystallization.
• When checking by the organoleptic method (observation), it is necessary to know that honey must have a uniform consistency, have an appropriate taste and smell bouquet.
• It is preferable to buy honey from the manufacturer, and not from a reseller.
• The most preferred for purchase is honey produced in the area where you live, or within a radius of about 500 km.
• when buying packaged honey, hand-packed honey has an advantage.

Useful properties of honey

Honey is of vegetable origin, saturated with vitamins (, B1, B2, B6,, PP,,, pantothenic acid, folic acid) and contains more than 300 trace elements (manganese, silicon, aluminum, boron, chromium, copper, lithium, nickel, lead, tin, zinc, osmium and others), which significantly accelerate the metabolic reactions that occur in the body.

The combination of trace elements is very close to the content of trace elements in human blood. Honey is a combination of simple sugars (glucose, fructose), a small dose of toxins (pollen) and water.

Honey contains 60 times more vitamin A than beef. Honey also contains organic acids (malic, tartaric, citric, lactic and oxalic), biogenic stimulants (which have a positive effect on the body, activating its vitality).

Honey is absorbed by the human body by 100%, which cannot be said about other products. Honey is not only an energy carbohydrate product, but also a therapeutic and prophylactic agent that strengthens and rejuvenates the body.

Honey improves immunity, has a bactericidal effect, has an anti-inflammatory and expectorant effect, has analgesic and restorative properties, and has a pronounced anti-allergic effect.

Honey has long been used in folk medicine for colds. Honey reduces a sharp, irritating cough, relieves arthritis pain. Honey has a calming effect on the stomach. Honey also helps old people in maintaining health.

Linden honey

His amendment can be called a champion among all varieties of honey for its healing properties. It has a pleasant aroma of linden, pale yellow color. Quickly crystallizes in small crystals, crystallized honey of a fat-like white color. It has a sharp specific taste. It has high nutritional and medicinal properties.

Has antibacterial properties. It has an expectorant, anti-inflammatory and slightly laxative effect.

In folk medicine, it is used in the treatment of tonsillitis, runny nose, laryngitis, bronchitis, tracheitis, bronchial asthma, as a cardio-strengthening agent, inflammation of the gastrointestinal tract, kidney and bile diseases. Has antiseptic properties. Works well for purulent wounds and burns. This honey can be used in the treatment of any disease, if there is no appropriate variety of honey used in the treatment of a particular disease.

Acacia honey

White acacia honey is characterized by a delicate aroma and pleasant taste. Fresh honey has a light transparent color. It crystallizes very slowly, acquiring a milky white color; honey can be stored for a long time in the form of syrup. Of all honeys, it is the most liquid.

It is used as a general tonic, as well as for insomnia, gastrointestinal, biliary and renal diseases.

sunflower honey

This is the main variety of beekeeping products in the southern regions of Ukraine. It has a characteristic pleasant taste and slight aroma. In liquid form, light golden color. It crystallizes very quickly, the crystals are large, crystallized yellow honey.

It has good nutritional and medicinal (bactericidal) properties.

Buckwheat honey

Buckwheat honey is mined mainly in forest-steppe and woodland areas. It has a high content of proteins, minerals, a very pleasant strong specific aroma and taste. The color is light brown with a reddish tint. An excellent food and medicinal product. Compared to other varieties, it contains more protein and mineral elements, such as iron.

It is useful for anemia, for diseases of the digestive system, for liver disease, for the prevention of atherosclerosis and as a cardio tonic.

Raspberry honey

This honey is collected by bees in forest clearings overgrown with raspberries. At this time, forbs also bloom wildly in the forest glades, so raspberry honey should rather be attributed to polyfloral honeys. But raspberries are significantly superior to other modos in terms of nectar productivity, and bees prefer to take nectar from it.

Raspberry honey has a light color, very pleasant aroma, wonderful taste. Comb honey from raspberries has a delicate taste and seems to melt in your mouth. Honey collection from raspberries begins in June - during the period of mass flowering. This honey is made from the nectar of wild and garden raspberry flowers. When raspberries bloom, the bees fly past other flowers of honey plants, not paying attention to them. This is because the raspberry flower is upside down. The bee, extracting nectar, is, as it were, under a natural canopy or umbrella and can work even during rain.

Raspberry honey is used for colds, as well as a tonic for beriberi, kidney diseases.

barberry honey

It has a golden yellow color, pleasant aroma and delicate sweet taste. Bees vigorously process the nectar of the flowers of the common barberry berry bush.

The medicinal properties of barberry and honey based on it have been known since ancient times. It is used as a hemostatic agent.

Burdock honey

It has a sharp pleasant smell, very viscous, fragrant and tasty. It has a light yellow color with a dark olive tint. This honey is collected from small dark pink flowers of burdock and burdock.

It is used in the treatment of gastrointestinal diseases and in dermatological practice.

Budyakovy honey (thistle honey)

Refers to first-class honey. It is either colorless, or greenish, or golden (light amber), has a pleasant aroma and taste. During crystallization, budyakovy honey becomes fine-grained. Bees collect it from beautiful raspberry weed flowers with thorny stems and grayish leaves - boudyak or thistle.

It is used for insomnia and the treatment of skin diseases.

Cornflower honey

Cornflower honey bees are collected from blue or field cornflower. This honey is greenish-yellow in color, has a pleasant taste with a slightly bitter aftertaste. It smells like almonds. It has not only excellent taste, but also medicinal properties.

It is used in the treatment of chronic skin diseases and eye diseases.

heather honey

It has a dark, dark-yellow and red-brown color, a weak aroma, a pleasant or tart bitter taste, quickly hardens, creating great difficulties when pumping it out of the combs. Not suitable for wintering bees.

mustard honey

In the liquid state, it is golden yellow in color, then, solidifying, acquires a creamy hue. Crystallizes in small grains. It has a pleasant aroma and taste. It has good nutritional and medicinal properties.

Pea honey

Pea honey is collected by bees from the flowers of thin-leaved peas, most often in the steppe region. It is transparent, has a pleasant aroma and taste.

It is used in the treatment of the digestive system.

sweet clover honey

Possesses high palatability. It varies in color from light amber to white with a greenish tint. It has a specific taste, sometimes slightly bitter, and a specific aroma reminiscent of vanilla. Crystallizes with the formation of a solid coarse-grained mass

It is used as a general tonic.

blackberry honey

Blackberry honey, bees make beautiful flowers of the blackberry bush from the nectar. Blackberry honey is clear as water and has a pleasant taste.

It is used in the treatment of colds and kidney diseases.

Hyssop honey

Bees make it from the nectar of dark blue flowers of a medicinal and honey-bearing semi-shrub plant - hyssop, which grows wild in eastern Ukraine, in the Crimea. Hyssop is specially bred in apiaries as a valuable honey plant. According to its organoleptic properties, hyssop honey belongs to the first grade.

It is used for insomnia and other diseases.

chestnut honey

Dark in color with a faint aroma of chestnut flowers and a bitter aftertaste. During crystallization, it first acquires an oily appearance, after which the crystals themselves appear. It has valuable antimicrobial properties. Bees make honey from the nectar of the bell-shaped white-pink flowers of the ornamental horse chestnut tree. This honey is transparent (colorless), liquid, but crystallizes easily and quickly, sometimes bitter. According to its properties, it belongs to the category of low-grade honey.

It is used in the treatment of gastrointestinal diseases, as well as in the treatment of kidney diseases.

swallow honey

It has a delicate aroma and excellent taste. This light yellow-tinged honey is made from fragrant nectar, a very valuable melliferous plant - swallowtail. In hot weather, the honeycomb honey thickens so much that it is difficult to pump out even when heated.

Used for insomnia.

pumpkin honey

Bees make it from the nectar of pumpkin flowers. This honey is golden-yellow in color, with a pleasant taste. Crystallizes quickly.

It is used for diseases of the digestive system.

Alfalfa honey

The bees collect it from the lilac or purple flowers of the alfalfa. Freshly pumped honey has various shades - from white to amber, quickly crystallizes, acquiring a white color and the consistency of thick cream. This honey has a pleasant aroma and specific taste. contains 36 - 37% glucose, 40% levoleza.

It is used in the treatment of gastrointestinal diseases and as a tonic.

Angelica honey

Bees collect it from the flowers of angelica officinalis. Angelica honey has a pleasant aroma and taste.

It is used in the treatment of gastrointestinal diseases, as well as to improve the activity of the central nervous system.

Melissa honey

Melissa honey bees are made from the nectar of light purple or red melissa flowers, or lemon mint. Honey has excellent taste qualities.

It is used for diseases of the cardiovascular system or neuroses.

clover honey

Colorless, almost transparent, with high palatability, one of the best light varieties of honey. During crystallization, it turns into a solid fine-crystalline white mass. Contains 34 - 35% glucose and 40 - 41% levulose. It is characterized by a naturally low diastase number (less than 10 Gote units).

It is used in the treatment of beriberi, as well as diseases of the stomach.

ATTENTION FEEDING MOMMS! The use of clover honey with a lack of breast milk in lactating women can provide a certain service, since the plants that serve as raw materials for this composition of honey have a milk-producing effect.

mint honey

Bees make it from the nectar of the flowers of a perennial spicy plant - peppermint, which is why honey has such a pleasant aroma. Peppermint is widely cultivated and produces abundant harvests of quality honey. Mint honey is amber in color, contains a large amount of vitamin C. It crystallizes in small grains of light yellow color.

It is used as a choleretic, sedative, analgesic and antiseptic agent, as well as for diseases of the digestive system.

Dandelion honey

It has a golden yellow color. It is a very thick, viscous, fast-crystallizing honey with a strong odor and a sharp taste. Bees make it from the nectar of the well-known and widespread weed - dandelion.

It is used for anemia, loss of appetite, in the treatment of liver diseases.

orange honey

One of the highest quality honey varieties. It tastes good, and its delicious aroma is reminiscent of the smell of citrus flowers. Bees make orange honey from the nectar of citrus flowers - tangerines, lemons, oranges.

It is used for lack of vitamins in the body.

motherwort honey

The bees collect it from the pale purple flowers of the motherwort, or heart grass, which grows in wastelands. Honey has a light golden, straw color, has a light aroma and a good specific taste. Motherwort flowers contain a lot of high-sugar nectar, so the plants are a valuable honey plant.

It is used in the treatment of diseases of the nervous system and the cardiovascular system.

Rowan honey

apple honey has a reddish color, strong aroma and good taste. Bees make this honey from the nectars of blossoming mountain ash.

It is used in the treatment of kidney disease. Rowan honey, boiled together with rowan berries, is taken orally for hemorrhoids.

Bruising honey

Bees collect it from the pink and bright blue flowers of bruise or blush, a very valuable southern plant - honey plant. This light amber honey is considered first-class, has a spicy aroma and a very good taste. slowly crystallizes and has a thick consistency.

It is used for insomnia and respiratory diseases.

blueberry honey

Blueberry honey is light and has a reddish hue. Exceptionally aromatic and delicious. Bees prepare honey from the nectar of the flowers of the well-known low shrub blueberry.

This honey is used in the treatment of kidney diseases.

Sage honey

Light - amber color, has a delicate pleasant aroma and pleasant taste. Bees make this honey from the nectar of bluish-violet flowers of a perennial shrub - sage, widely bred in Ukraine, the Kuban, etc.

Used as an anti-inflammatory agent.

carrot honey

Produced from the nectar of fragrant, white flowers of umbellate inflorescences of a two-year cultivated carrot plant. Honey has a dark yellow color and a pleasant aroma.

It is used in the treatment of eye diseases.

There are other varieties of monofloral honeys. How many types of honey plants - so many honeys. And yet, purely monofloral honeys practically do not exist, and we can only talk about the predominance of some component.

May honey

This honey, collected by bees from the early spring flowering honey plants in April - May. These are hazel (hazelnut), alder, willow - nonsense, coltsfoot, violet, maple, bird cherry, dandelion, sage, garden trees and bushes, etc.

May honey is one of the most valuable varieties of honey. May honey has a golden color, wonderful fragrant aroma. It has wonderful taste and medicinal properties. Recommended for use in a variety of diseases.

meadow honey

It is obtained from meadow flowers: dandelion, shepherd's purse, thyme, thyme, white clover, mouse pea, sow thistle meadow bruise, wild mallow, St. honey plants growing in the meadows.

If this honey is dominated by dandelion nectar, then it is more yellow in color. Meadow honey is pleasant in taste, has an aroma reminiscent of a bouquet of flowering meadow herbs.

Meadow honey is characterized by high nutritional and medicinal properties. Differs in antibacterial action. It is used in the treatment of various diseases, especially kidney diseases, has a softening, anti-inflammatory and analgesic effect.

forest honey

Bees produce it from forest honey plants: wild fruit trees - wild rose, hawthorn, Tatar maple (black maple), viburnum, willow, linden and other plants - raspberries, blackberries, lingonberries, fireweed (willow-herb), heather, oregano, strawberry lungwort. It has many shades: from light yellow to dark brown. It is always darker than field. In terms of taste, honey is collected from forest herbs, is not inferior to meadow and field, but if it contains a large amount of honeydew or nectar from buckthorn and heather, its taste quality decreases.

Forest honey from spring honey plants (mountain ash, willow, fruit, acacia, raspberry, blueberry) is in great demand. This honey has absorbed the healing qualities of forest herbs and therefore gained fame as a cure for all diseases. It is used in the treatment of various diseases, and especially in kidney disease.

field honey

This honey is obtained from coriander, sainfoin, lavender, colza, sow thistle, budyak, pikulnik, gill, phacelia and cultivated plants - sunflower, rapeseed, buckwheat, alfalfa, mustard. It has a calming effect on the nervous system, it is recommended for headaches, insomnia, palpitations and pain in the solar plexus.

mountain honey

By tradition, mountain honey is considered more valuable among polyfloral ones. Collected in alpine meadows at an altitude of more than 1000 meters. Similar in smell to<<лесной мед>>, absorbed the healing qualities of many alpine plants and gained fame as a panacea for many diseases.

It is mainly used for diseases of the respiratory system.
Monofloral honeys, as a rule, have the smell of plants from which they are collected and are distinguished by exquisite, subtle, spicy aromas. Often, to obtain such exquisite reserves, various honeys are mixed. The aroma of honey can be weak, strong, subtle, delicate, with a pleasant and unpleasant color. With gentle heating, the aroma of honey increases.

The physical properties of honey - aroma, taste, consistency depend on the set of melliferous plants and the maturity of honey.
The quality of colored honey depends on the composition of plants, soil composition, climatic conditions (often previous years), and bee species.

Bees collect and carry to the hive not only nectar, but also any other sugar solutions: fruit juices, sugar syrup, pod. Clover

Special types of natural honey

tobacco honey

Honey, dark brown in color, with a bitter taste and an aroma similar to the smell of tobacco. Crystallizes slowly. Honey is obtained in the usual way - from the nectar of ordinary flowers. It is known to have weak antimicrobial activity. However, the nutritional and medicinal properties of tobacco honey have not been sufficiently studied by experts, and for this reason this honey is not recommended for treatment and nutrition.

stone honey

Stone honey is a rare and peculiar type of honey. It is collected by wild bees, laying it in the crevices of stone cliffs. Stone honey of pale color, pleasant aroma and good taste. Honeycombs with honey contain almost no east, and in their appearance they are a single crystallized substance, similar to a lollipop. Due to the high glucose content, honey is slightly hygroscopic. Unlike ordinary bee honey, rock honey is not sticky, so it does not require special containers. It is well preserved without changing its qualities for several years. According to the place of origin (on a regional basis), it is called Abkhazian honey.

A variety of stone honey is also found in Uzbekistan, where it is collected by bees from dzhugara - a special kind of millet. It is very thick and difficult to pump out, and after pumping it quickly crystallizes into a very dense, hard fat-like mass. Honey is white in color, with a strong aroma and pungent taste.

Powdered honey

Powdered honey is very rare. It is not hygroscopic and contains a large amount of glucose and melicitose. Bees collect such honey from such honey plants, it has not yet been clarified. And it has a powdery consistency.

poisonous honey

It is also called "drunk honey". It is produced by bees from the nectar of azalea flowers, mountain laurel, andromeda, Pontic rhododendron, hellebore and some other plants, as well as flowers of marsh shrubs - heather and wild rosemary. In its pure form, this honey is poisonous. Such honey is revealed by studying its origin and biological samples. 50 - 100 g of this honey causes headache, vomiting, diarrhea, pallor or blue face, palpitations, weakness, itching, sometimes convulsions. The toxicity of honey is explained by the content of the alkaloid, andromedotoxin, in the nectar of rhododendron, which has a rich, intoxicating aroma.

In Japan, bees collect poisonous honey from a plant called hotsutsai. Laurel trees growing in the Mediterranean climate contain andromedotoxin, so the honey obtained from them is also poisonous.
Bees collect poisonous honey in the Caucasus, the Far East and in some other areas. However, it is still not exactly established from which plants honey collection is carried out in each case. For the bees themselves, this honey is non-toxic.

Signs of poisoning with such honey appear 20 minutes (up to 2 hours) after eating it. In weak and emaciated people, this happens very rapidly: there is a rise in temperature, vomiting, skin itching, numbness, dizziness, loss of consciousness, the pulse becomes weak, thready (up to disappearance or slowing down to 50, even 30 beats per minute). The face of the victim acquires a transparent - bluish tint, the pupils dilate, breathing becomes difficult, cold sweat appears on the skin, arms and legs hurt. This state lasts 4-5 hours.