French communes produce distinct honey based on prevalent flowers. Some honeys are used for culinary purposes, while others are derived from medicinal flowers with health benefits. At least 42 types of flowers contribute to France’s honey, each with unique flavor and color tones.
Beekeeping and agriculture have a historic marriage dating back a half dozen millennia or more. In France, with a particular affinity for bees and their byproduct, most communes produce a slightly distinct honey based entirely on the most prevalent flowers in each region. Many areas produce different types of honey: some multi-floral blends from freely roaming bees and many from beehives confined to a certain type of flower.
Some prize a particular French honey for strictly culinary purposes. Honeys are produced from a long list of individual flowers, made from beehives used by dedicated flower growers or greenhouse operations. The honey will be extracted from a beehive before being moved to another flower crop, producing honeys with particular flavor and color notes. For example, chefs might use carrot honey instead of sugar to sweeten the icing of a carrot cake. Recipes may call for an herb such as rosemary or orange peel and sugar, which could be greeted with a rosemary honey or orange blossom honey.
While a French chef is thinking about culinary uses, others may focus their French honey purchases on bees using flowers with renowned health benefits. Many French honeys are derived from medicinal flowers which are commonly used as alternative or complementary medicines. For example, eucalyptus or lavender plants are natural antihistamines, so honeys made from eucalyptus or lavender flowers are popular for relieving congestion and reducing the pain of a sore throat. Different flowers may have been used for generations as folk remedies to relieve symptoms or fight disease for many types of ailments.
French culinary author David Lebovitz notes various medicinal uses for French honey. Heather honey, says Lebovitz, is regularly used to treat urinary tract infections. The abundant French wildflower aubepine is hailed by herbalists for creating a honey with soothing qualities. A long list of flowers with potentially medicinal qualities is available online from the University of Washington’s Medicinal Herb Garden, an illustrated database.
According to the Honey Traveler website, at least 42 types of flowers contributed to France’s own type of honey in the early 21st century. Some, like alfalfa honey and ivy honey, have subtle flavor and color tones, while others like blackberry, buckwheat or lemon honey are easily distinguishable by taste and even color. As climates and topography change from region to region, so do the types of flowers that grow and help distinguish each multi-flowered local honey.
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