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Honey varieties

Basswood honey

Bees make this honey from the nectar of linden trees, which people in North America call basswood.

  • Photo of Tilia americana from an iNaturalist observation.Linden (basswood)nectar

White to light amber

Basswood honey

← All honey varieties

The honey

Color

White to light amber · 25 to 69 mm Pfund

Bulgarian linden honeys measured from 25 to 69 mm Pfund. [1]

Illustrative screen color. A screen cannot show a laboratory color.

Aroma

A strong, fresh, vegetal aroma with some chemical notes. [1]

Flavor

Medium sweet, with moderate acidity and a long, astringent aftertaste. [1]

Crystallization

Sets into a compact mass of fine, light yellow crystals, sometimes with a green tint. [1]

Where it comes from

Blossom (nectar)Botanical variety

  • Linden (basswood)

    Tilia Genus

    primary source · nectar

    Published honey references and standards name this source. In other regions, the honey can come from more or different species.

Also known as
Linden honey
Documented in
Poland, Ukraine, Romania, United States, China

The catalog names these countries. Honey of this type can come from other regions too.

Bonnie Isaac published the photo of Tilia americana on iNaturalist under CC0 1.0: iNaturalist observation 294988599.

Evidence

Supported Profile

At least one peer-reviewed study of this honey from a relevant region supports the color and a taste or smell value.

A peer-reviewed study of 18 pollen-checked Bulgarian linden honeys with a trained tasting panel gives every value.

Studies

  1. Comparative Study of Bulgarian Linden Honey (Tilia sp.)

    Yankova-Nikolova, A., Vlahova-Vangelova, D., Balev, D., Kolev, N., Dragoev, S., Lowndes-Nikolova, B.

    Foods, 2025

    18 linden honeys from six Bulgarian regions, with pollen analysis, Pfund color, and a trained tasting panel.

    DOI: 10.3390/foods14020175

  2. Main European unifloral honeys: descriptive sheets

    Persano Oddo, L., Piro, R.

    Apidologie, 2004

    The International Honey Commission descriptive sheets of the main European unifloral honeys.

    DOI: 10.1051/apido:2004049

References

  • Main European unifloral honeys: descriptive sheets — International Honey Commission
  • Standard for Honey CXS 12-1981 — FAO / WHO Codex Alimentarius
  • Council Directive 2001/110/EC relating to honey — European Union
  • Criteria for identifying monofloral and multifloral manuka honey — New Zealand Ministry for Primary Industries
  • United States Standards for Grades of Extracted Honey — United States Department of Agriculture
  • Honey for nutrition and health: a review — Journal of the American College of Nutrition

We reviewed this record on .

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