"Variety is the Spice of Life"

by Jennifer
(Paris (originally Texas))

What is the best honey? Well, My love affair with honey began long ago as a kid. My mom always bought clover honey in a bear-shaped bottle when I was growing up and I would squirt it straight into my mouth.

Back then I thought that was the only kind of honey in existence. Who knew there were so many different types of honey out there?! Maybe I can answer that question, what is the best honey?

It has recently been one of my goals to taste as many different honeys as possible! My real interest in all things bees began few months ago when I saw an article about the apiaries in 2 of the parks in the center of Paris (where I live) on 2 different weekends.

They were having an educational "honey day" where people could come visit the hives and buy the honey made there in the parks.

The first weekend I went with my son and they were sold out of the honey but had some lime blossom honey from just outside of Paris.

I bought some because I had always heard that you should eat honey from your region to help reduce your allergies. I do believe that to be true because I did, in fact, eat some Parisian honey several years ago that a friend had and noticed my allergies were not as bad as they usually were.

In fact, I hardly had any problem with them that year whereas in years past there were days I skipped school to stay in bed or had to drag myself into work because my allergies were so bad, like having a nasty cold.

People would ask me if I had been crying because my face was puffy and my eyes were red.

Anyway, the next weekend I went to the 2nd park for their honey day and they had sold out the first hour! I was going to just turn around and go home but decided to go visit the hives and was glad I did.

There were several of us asking questions and learning about the hives and how bees work. I was fascinated!

One of the beekeepers talked to a smaller group of us, off to the the side, for well over an hour. It was like a crash course in bee keeping!

I learned all about the medicinal value of honey (who knew it was more than just a sweetener?) and I ran out and bought more honey from the health food store and some tubes of royal jelly and eventually got some more propolis spray which is amazing for sore throats.

I had already discovered a honey store called La Famille Mary and had been buying from them for a couple years.

They have really good creamy thyme honey and thyme it is a good astringent. They have a creamy one but I have also bought a liquid thyme honey from a local vendor. It has a deep, rich flavor.

I have several dark tree honeys like eucalyptus that are very strong and almost medicinal tasting but I do like the chestnut tree one the best of all the dark "tree" variety but I think it's because it comes from both flower and sap whereas pine and the like comes mostly from sap (if I'm not mistaken).

I also have a pine tree honey that I take when I have a cold and it really seems to help.

My favorite honey on toast is raspberry honey. I don't get too many honeys from the supermarket because I'm not sure if they're heated, over-filtered and/or pasteurized which can make them look prettier but cut down on their healing properties.

But I did find this Canadian raspberry honey at the supermarket in the gourmet section. It has a slight aftertaste of raspberry is is so nice, light and creamy.

Other honeys on my shelf include:

Buckwheat honey: very dark, bold & rich. It reminds me a lot of molasses. It's supposed to be the best for healing coughs.

Rosemary honey: reminds me of thyme honey a little bit. It's light and creamy with a just slight rosemary taste.

Lavender honey: there are both creamy & liquid versions of this. I get the light-colored, creamy one and it's very smooth and it almost stretches like taffy. Another nice one on toast.

Sunflower honey: almost no taste with a very grainy texture, almost like a pack of sugar that got wet. It crystalizes very quickly. A good one for sweetening drinks with since it won't change the flavor.

Organic Tasmanian wildflower honey: This is a creamy honey & it actually tastes like a woman's perfume was added to it.

It's a strange taste but nice. Probably better on toast than in tea as it might flavor the tea (unless that's what you want it to do.)

Raw, unfiltered honey from wildflowers in Chili: For a while this was my favorite and I would eat spoonfulls straight from the jar. It's a medium-colored honey & very grainy but still creamy with little bits of wax in it. Reminds me a bit of vanilla cake icing for some reason.

Acacia honey: This is a very light, liquid honey that is not overbearing and tastes good on anything.

Oak tree honey: Dark, liquid, strong-tasting. Not sure everyone would be a fan of this one but I have strange taste. Another one that's a bit like molasses in taste.

Lime blossom honey: Light, liquid (though crystallizes quickly) with a slightly bitter lime aftertaste.

I'm sure there are probably more but that's all I can think of right now. Anyway, since going to the apiaries in the park I have been trying to spread the word about the medicinal value of honey & propolis.

I have only had one cold since my mass honey consumption & that was after a flight across the Atlantic in which I didn't sleep much & my resistence was low.

I took honey & propolis & never got a sore throat (sort of unheard of in my history of colds) & it only lasted a few days as opposed to the usual 10.

I'm just amazed by our little friend, the bee & all she is capable of doing. I say she because it's the female drones who do all the work. The males are only there for mating with the queen & then they get booted out. It's a true matriachy.

If I didn't live in an apartment I'd seriously consider putting a hive in my backyard! That's how passionate I am about this stuff.

I've been telling all my friends who have health problems to buy honey & propolis. I've yet to test it on burns (only because I haven't burned myself, thank goodness) but have read how it stops the pain of a burn almost immediately & heals it faster than conventional medicines.

I'm so impressed with all that. And it's all natural!!! No chemicals that they might find out in 10 years are cancer-causing. I'm always for going the natural way when I can.

I hope I've convinced some of you of the value of honey & propolis.
Bon appetite!

Jennifer

Jan's Reply

And I Thought I was the Expert!

Jen, what a fantastic contribution you have made by writing this superb article.
I need to explore further some of the delicious kinds and varieties of honey you have described here which are amazing.

It is my absolute pleasure to hear from other honey lovers who also believe strongly in the power of Bee Products.

Well done to your mum for setting you on the right path when you were young.

Warmest Regards
Jan

Angela says: What a Very Informative article

Thanks Jennifer for the informative article. I didn't know there were so many uses for honey. I will try it the next time my kids get sick. I would rather give them something that is made up of natural ingredients than medicine for colds.

Talia says: What an Interesting article!

Thanks for this piece, Jen! It's quite educational and I hope it'll spark a greater interest in one of nature's best medicines!