Honey is subdivided into varieties, depending on from which honey plants the nectar was collected by the bees. In Russia, more than fifty of the most famous melliferous plants are distinguished. Honey is also called according to the geographical area, which is associated with its origin. To determine which type of honey belongs to, sometimes it is enough just to taste it.
Honey, which is collected by bees from a particular plant, usually has a unique characteristic taste and aroma. For example, chestnut honey has a rather pronounced bitter taste and a tart, pungent aroma. Linden honey is distinguished by its delicate sweetish taste and its unique delicate aroma. Sunflower honey is pretty sweet and almost odorless. It is difficult to confuse with any other and buckwheat honey. Its slightly bitter taste, tingling effect in the throat, delicate aroma and deep chestnut color distinguish it from all other varieties. Willow, tobacco and some other types of honey - along with sweet taste, also have a rather sharp bitterness. It is necessary to understand that it is very difficult to get honey from only one melliferous plant, since, as a rule, several melliferous plants bloom at the same time near the apiary. Also, when pumping out, the old stocks of the bee colony, which were previously collected from other plants, may fall along with fresh honey. In this regard, only experienced beekeepers can accurately determine the origin of mixed honey according to its taste. Natural flower honey of any kind has a sweet taste, and in addition has an irritating effect - astringency of varying intensity is felt. Artificial sugar honey does not have such properties. The sweetness of honey is influenced by the concentration of the compound sugars and their origin. The sweetest taste is honey, which contains the most fructose. Honey obtained from bees fed with sugar syrup, petmes (boiled thick syrup from the juice of various fruits and berries), artificial glucose, is less sweet than flower honey. If honey has been stored in a metal container for a long time, it acquires a metallic taste. When determining the origin of honey, in addition to its taste characteristics, one should also take into account the speed of its crystallization. For example, buckwheat, sunflower, and alfalfa honey crystallizes very quickly, and acacia, cherry, sage and honeydew honey - slowly. Dandelion honey crystallizes literally in a matter of days. The taste and aroma of herbal honey is extremely diverse, as a result of which it is often impossible to determine its origin.
