Much like the way flowers have different scents, if you were to boil these flowers and eat them each individually, they may have a different taste also. A bee colony visits several thousand flowers to collect nectar as a food source both on the day, as well as to add to their hive as a future food source for the winter.

This nectar is then turned into the waxy conclaves in their hive, from which we humans take over a third of the results of been pollination for our own consumption. The nectar from the many different flowers that the bee pollinate each has its own individual taste, but there are also three varieties depending on the bee colonies location.

While the bees are undergoing the natural process of food collection, it is up to the apiarist to know where his bees are flying and which fields of flowers they are pollinating. They do this using a variety of methods, but an experienced bee keeper knows the layout of the land around him and how far the bes will travel in any one single sortie.

With this knowledge it is possible to know which type of honey the bee will end up providing. Monofloral: A singular flower source. Polyflora: A multiple flower source and then there are Blends. The latter being one of a human intervention and mixing two or more honey collections together to make an entirely different honey flavouring.

So honey is a little more complicated than first thought. The flavours of the honey not only differ from area to area in regions of the UK but also on the international stage too. Worldwide there are several thousand different varieties, 300 in America alone.

China, Ukraine, Turkey and America are the biggest producers and from within their stock, many thousands of bee keepers, millions of bees and thousands of honey varieties. All due to the areas their bees source nectar from and the flowers on hand to proffer their delights.

Picking up a jar of honey may have been complicated before this article but after having read it, hopefully now you will see honey and its different varieties as more of an adventure into the exotic.

Take American honey as a quick glimpse into our growing archive of honey varietals. Nectar from California avocado blossoms produces rich, buttery flavoured honey. Another source, the Sourwood tree, growing in the Appalachian Mountains has a sweet yet spicy, anise aroma and flavour.