China has been a big country producing honey since ancient. It has vast land, a wide variety of honey sources and production methods.
- Classified by Source:
We know that when a bee brews honey, it collects mainly nectar, but when the honey source is lacking, the bee also collects nectar or honeydew. So we divide honey into natural honey and honeydew honey. Natural honey is made by bees collecting nectar. Honeydew honey is a honey brewed by honeybees collecting honeydew or insect metabolites from the leaves or stems of plants.
Honey comes from the plant’s nectarines. Usually, what we call honey is natural honey. It is also derived from different honey plants and is divided into various single flower nectars, such as Acacia Honey, Vitex Honey, Linden Honey, Jujube/Date Honey, Longan honey, Eucalyptus Honey, Sunflower Honey, Rape Honey, Clover Honey and so on. There are also many kinds of honey that are flowered at the same time, because it has more than two kinds of pollen mixed together, generally called miscellaneous nectar.
Before people know about honey plants, they only divide honey into spring honey, summer honey, autumn honey and winter honey in the production season. - According to the physical state classification: honey at normal temperature, atmospheric pressure, has two different physical states, namely liquid and crystalline. Under normal circumstances, the honey that has just been separated is liquid, clear and transparent, good fluidity, after a period of time, or at low temperatures, most honey forms solid crystals, so people usually divide it into liquid honey and crystal honey.
- According to the production method classification: According to different production methods of honey production, can be divided into separation honey and nest honey. Separation of honey is to take out the honey card in the hive, place it in the honey machine, shake it out by the action of centrifugal force, and filter the honey. This fresh honey is generally in a clear liquid state, and some of the separated honey crystallizes over time. Some honey will crystallize at low temperatures or over time. Nest honey, also known as plaid honey, utilizes the biological characteristics of bees. In the standardized honeycombs, the honey pieces and honey nests that are brewed together with the honey have the function of separating honey and the characteristics of honeycombs. Known as the most perfect and top-grade natural honey product.
- according to the color classification: honey with different types of honey plant, the color is very different. Whether it is a single flower or a mixed honey, it has a certain color, and it is often a color of light, and its taste and smell are better. It is generally believed that light-colored honey is mostly superior to dark honey in quality. In the international market, honey is divided into special honey (single nectar) and mixed honey. There is a difference in color between honey, which is divided into water white, special white, white, ultra light amber, light amber, amber and deep. There are 7 levels of color, and the basis for distinguishing colors is the Puente Colorimeter.
