Varietal Honey

Who knows where the bees got the nectar they converted into the honey that is in your tea. One of the most difficult questions a beekeeper can be asked is "what kind of honey is it?" If a particular honey was all from one source there could be no other plant species in a five mile radius. So honey that is called by variety names is usually a best guess. Honey inherits its characteristics from the nectar source. The honey made from the nectar of black locust blossoms is very light in color, very sweet in taste, and mild in flavor, whereas honey from plants in the buckwheat family, like Japanese Knotweed, is stronger flavored, darker colored, and not as sweet.

While comb honey has a flavor that is more unique to the plants the bees gathered the nectar from, extracted honey tends to be more of a blend of different floral sources. Think about it, who really knows where the all the bees go when they leave the hive. I have certainly witnessed them on many different kinds of flowers on any given day. There are times however, when a group of plants will have ideal conditions to produce nectar and if there are a sufficient amount of bees, and plants of the same kind, it is possible to separate the honey sources.

Crytallization

All honey will turn to solid sugar over time; some varieties much faster than others. For an informative description of the process go this website: http://www.honey.com/images/downloads/crystallization.pdf