A complete guide to honey

Heather honey comes from – you guessed it – purple heather. It is regarded as one of the most distinct varieties in the UK, with the majority of it coming from Scotland where moorlands are often covered in striking heather plants. Dark amber in colour with a semi-set texture, it has notes of smoke, toffee and stone fruits, which makes it one of the most popular speciality honeys around.

Acacia honey is very light and delicate and will stay in a liquid state for years before crystallising, which makes it fantastic for drizzling or stirring into drinks. The colour can range from pale yellow to almost clear (depending on the type of acacia the bees have been feeding on) and it has a prominent floral flavour that goes particularly well with cheese.

If beehives are placed near vast swathes of a particular herb – most commonly rosemary, thyme or lavender – their honey will become naturally infused with its flavour. A lot of this honey comes from the Mediterranean, and while it’s delicious simply spread on toast or drizzled over desserts it’s also well-suited when cooking meats such as lamb or chicken. You’ll also find honeys that have been infused with various herbs after being harvested – these will have a much more prominent herb flavour and can easily be made at home by simply submerging rosemary, thyme or lavender into a jar of honey and leaving it for a few weeks.

For honey to be classified as organic, the hives must be placed in an area surrounded by 100% organic plants that stretches at least twelve kilometres in any direction (which is the distance bees will travel in search for nectar). This makes creating organic honey in the UK practically impossible, so it is almost always imported from larger countries. Once the beekeeper gets the organic accreditation, however, they can then make any honey they like – either a blend or a specific variety – depending on what’s growing around the hive.

Manuka honey is the crème de la crème of all honeys – and has the price tag to match. A truly specialist product, all manuka honey originally came from New Zealand, where the indigenous manuka bush grows, although some is now produced in Australia as well. The nectar from this bush has antibacterial, antioxidant and anti-inflammatory properties, which makes it highly sought after, and there are different categories of manuka honey depending on how antibacterial it is, known as Unique Manuka Factor (UMF), Non Peroxide Activity (NPA) or Methylglyoxal (MGO). It is dark, thick and herbaceous, tasting unlike any other honey out there. Many people simply eat it by the teaspoon to soothe a sore throat, but its unique flavour also makes it a fantastic addition to toast.

Rather than extracting honey from the hive, beekeepers can simply cut the honeycomb into slabs to sell. The hexagonal holes are bursting with liquid honey, but you can also eat the comb itself, which is slightly crunchy and chewy. Completely unfiltered and totally natural, this is a delicious way to eat honey – try breaking it up into small pieces to be stirred through yoghurt or porridge.

When bees return to their hives stuffed full of nectar, some of them also collect pollen in little baskets on their hind legs (known as corbicula) to feed the colony. Any excess gets knocked off as they squeeze through the tiny entrance to the hive, and clever beekeepers put trays down to collect it all. The resulting bee pollen is packed with nutrients and has become a bit of a superfood in recent years, with the health-conscious adding the little yellow grains into smoothies or using them to add a subtle sweetness to desserts.

Honey’s natural taste works so well in such a large variety of dishes, but you’ll also find jars of it infused with other ingredients to add another dimension of flavour. Everything from chocolate and chilli to lemon and raspberry has been blended with honey to add something a little different to the natural product. Chefs experiment with it in restaurants; shops stock jars of flavoured honey which are perfect for spreading on toast and keen home cooks will infuse honey with their own ingredients to create something homemade.