Honey plants

Honey plants are plants whose flowers give bees nectar and pollen: nectar is the bees' source of carbohydrate, pollen the protein for their larvae. In Europe more than one hundred species can yield single-plant honey, though most matter only locally, and a handful of crops and trees supply most of it. ³²

Why bees and flowers need each other. According to FAO, over 80 % of all flowering plant species are pollinated by animals, mostly insects, and these pollinators affect 35 % of the world's crop production. While foraging, bees carry pollen from flower to flower and so allow plants to set seed and fruit. ⁸³

Fifteen reference honeys. The International Honey Commission described 15 European single-plant honeys on the basis of 5,481 samples and 46,181 analytical data: rape, heather, chestnut, citrus, eucalyptus, sunflower, lavender, rhododendron, black locust, rosemary, dandelion, thyme, lime and two honeydew types. ¹

Field crops. Rape is grown for seed and oil and is one of the most important spring sources in Central and Eastern Europe; its honey granulates quickly because of its high glucose content and is even added to other honeys as a crystallisation starter. Sunflower, also an oil crop, yields honey mainly in Eastern and Southern Europe, and it too crystallises quickly. ¹ Buckwheat is listed among the plants giving single-plant honey in Eastern Europe and Poland. ²

Trees. Black locust, Robinia pseudoacacia, comes from the north-eastern United States but is widely naturalised in Europe; its honey, often wrongly called acacia honey, comes mostly from Eastern Europe, is among the most valued on the market and crystallises slowly. ¹ Lime is a rich nectar source, black locust gives a rich but variable yield from year to year, and willows are an important early-season source of nectar and pollen. ³

Mountains and heaths. Sweet chestnut grows mainly in Central and Southern Europe at 500–1000 m and gives a slowly crystallising honey. Ling heather is an important late-summer resource in northern and western Europe. Lavender honey comes mostly from lavandin grown for essential oil in France and Spain and is tied to Miel de Provence. ¹

Honeydew. Not all honey comes from flowers. Under the Codex standard, honeydew honey comes mainly from excretions of plant-sucking insects on the living parts of plants or from plant secretions, while blossom honey comes from nectar. ⁶ In the International Honey Commission sheets, honeydew honeys crystallise slowly. ¹

How single-plant honey is made. Beekeepers separate one flowering period from earlier and later nectar flows; the most common technique is migratory beekeeping, timing the moves of apiaries and the placing and removing of supers. ⁴ A plant name on the label is allowed only if the honey comes wholly or mainly from that plant and has the matching sensory, physicochemical and microscopic properties. ⁵⁶

Why it matters to you. The plant shapes colour, taste and crystallisation: rape, sunflower and dandelion honeys set quickly, black locust and chestnut slowly. ¹ From 14 June 2026 EU honey labels must list the countries of origin in descending order with the share of each, with a tolerance of 5 %. ⁷