Save The Bees

Loading the search catalogs…

Sign inAdopt a hive

Honey varieties

Pine honey

Bees make this honeydew honey from the sugary excretion of insects that feed on pine trees, not from flower nectar.

  • Photo of Pinus brutia from an iNaturalist observation.Pinus brutiahoneydew of Marchalina hellenica
  • Photo of Pinus halepensis from an iNaturalist observation.Pinus halepensishoneydew of Marchalina hellenica

Light amber to dark amber

Pine honey

← All honey varieties

The honey

Color

Light amber to dark amber · 60 to 118 mm Pfund

Twenty-seven Greek pine honeys measured 60 to 118 mm Pfund and averaged 91.9 mm Pfund. [1]

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

Aroma
Not documented
Flavor
Not documented
Crystallization

Its fructose-to-glucose ratio, 1.27 on average, points to a moderate tendency to crystallize. [1]

Where it comes from

HoneydewSource category

  • Pine

    Pinus brutia, Pinus halepensis

    Honeydew of the insect Marchalina hellenica

    primary source · honeydew

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

Also known as
Pine honeydew honey
Documented in
Greece, Türkiye

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

Alex Gault published the photo of Pinus brutia on iNaturalist under CC0 1.0: iNaturalist observation 160743984.

dbmhartley published the photo of Pinus halepensis on iNaturalist under CC0 1.0: iNaturalist observation 60332338.

Evidence

Emerging Profile

Published evidence exists but is limited, for example a government or trade-board description or one small study.

A peer-reviewed study of 27 authenticated Greek pine honeys gives the color and the sugar ratio. No study that we read gives the aroma or the flavor yet.

Studies

  1. Physicochemical Characterization and Biological Properties of Pine Honey Produced across Greece

    Tsavea, E., Vardaka, F.-P., Savvidaki, E., Kellil, A., Kanelis, D., Bucekova, M., Grigorakis, S., Godocikova, J., Gotsiou, P., Dimou, M., Loupassaki, S., Remoundou, I., Tsadila, C., Dimitriou, T.G., Majtan, J., Tananaki, C., Alissandrakis, E., Mossialos, D.

    Foods, 2022

    27 authenticated Greek pine honeys, with Pfund color and sugar profiles.

    DOI: 10.3390/foods11070943 · Open the source

  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 .

Suggest a correction