Honey is one of the first natural sources found and used by people. It is the only product we get completely ready for consumption without having to further process.

There are hundreds of types of honey and we love telling you about each of them and their specifics. The types of honey differ in their contents, aroma, taste and colour. Lighter honey is easier for consumption and better suited for children. Darker honey has high healing effects, because it contains more minerals. They are successfully used in chronical deceases treatment.

One of the main honey types, known well for its healing qualities is Lime Tree Honey. Lime Tree Honey is one of the most popular and spread worldwide honey types. It has a lighter colour and specific aroma because of its farnesol content. Farnesol is beneficial for the nervous system and it has southing effect.

Lime Tree or also known as Linden for the European species is native for most of the temperate Northern Hemisphere. The common denominator - Tilla is a genus of around 30 different types of trees and bushes.

Some even call this tree “the bee tree” because in the most humid part of the summer it’s extremely full of nectar and the bees are drawn to it.

How is Linden Honey made?
Interesting: Lime Tree Honey is one of the first types that people tried and appreciated for thousands of years.

Like almost every other honey type Lime Tree Honey is made by bees collecting nectar from lime-tree blossoms.

When the honey bee collects the linden nectar, it gets mixed with an enzyme in the bee’s mouth. Once the bees are back in the hive, they pass the linden nectar between themselves and further mix it with the bee enzyme. This reduces the water content and converts the nectar into honey. The bees then deposit the honey into wax cells; however, the water content might be sometimes too high. In that case the bees fan their wings above the wax cell to help the evaporation of the water. Once they are done the water levels in the lime honey should be around 20%.

Interesting: Other names for this honey are Basswood honey for North America and Linden honey for Asia and the rest of Europe.

The Lime Tree Honey is a very special type of honey. Because the annual linden honey crop cannot be guaranteed, this honey is very special. One of the reasons for the uncertain faith of this type of tree is weather conditions. Even though the flowers bloom in a three-week period, a sudden change in weather can reduce the bloom time down to only two days. Nonetheless, heavy rains can also wash away the nectar from the delicate flowers.

When is Lime tree honey ready?

Is Linden Honey beneficial?
Like most honey types Linden Honey is a great natural remedy for wounds, sore throat, cough and colds in general. Linden flowers have been used in the past for the making of potions that promote liver health and nowadays it’s no different. This honey is known to encourage the release of bile, which helps the liver function and leads to good liver health.

Because of its thick consistency and low moisture content, Linden honey has a soothing action on the stomach. A tablespoon of this honey, taken in the morning, on an empty stomach can relieve stomach discomfort, help digestion and heal any irritation caused by gastritis.

The natural sugars in Lime Tree honey have a prebiotic effect, helping the gut by feeding it good bacteria. Additionally, this honey is also said to help constipation.

Linden honey is also known for its blood pressure lowering properties and skin soothing. Used on the face, it reduces redness, unclogs pores and helps the treatment of acne.

This honey is rich on minerals, vitamins – B1, B2, B3, B5, B6, C, E, and K. It also has a number of enzymes which makes it a great immune system booster and helps the production of blood cells and haemoglobin.

Remember: All of the healthy benefits of Honey come mostly when consumed raw.

It’s a popular belief that the low content of blood sugars in the body can weaken you physically and mentally. In this case, honey is a great remedy to restore the energy, and improve the function of the blood and the nervous system. The sugars in the honey help the liver and the metabolic processes of the organism.

Long ago, Hippocrates used to describe honey as the best food for strong immune system. He believed that honey is age- preserving and great for the gut health. Compared to sugar, which takes longer to be processed by the organism and often raises the levels of cholesterol, honey sugars, combined with the minerals, phytoncides, vitamins and the organic acids are extremely valuable and beneficial for the human organism.

How does Linden Honey look and smell?
It has a unique taste and strong aroma.

This Honey is unusually bright and it has a woody sent at first, however you can also detect some minty or menthol smell. The taste is sweet with a note of spiciness and bitterness.

When fresh this honey has almost green colour and after time it becomes amber with yellow tones.

Because linden is like a magnet to the bees, the content of pollen in Lime Tree Honey can get up to 80%.

Interesting: Lime tree honey crystalizes very quickly because of its high glucose-to-fructose ratio.

How to eat Linden Honey?
Important: Add this honey to your tea after the temperature has dropped under 42°.

On the occasion of the upcoming holidays, we have included a festive recipe including Lime Tree Honey:

Festive honey-glazed gammon

A juicy gammon joint is simply a must for any Christmas table. Here’s our perfect recipe that will be remembered for years ahead because it’s simply Bee-licious.

Ingredients:

For the gammon

1kg unsmoked, boneless gammon joint, tied

2 carrots

1 onion

2 bay leaves

10 black peppercorns

For the glaze

200ml uncrystallized honey

4 tbsp wholegrain Mustard

Method

Cut the carrots into little cubes and halve the onion.
Place the gammon into a saucepan, add the carrots, onion, bay leaves and the peppercorns and cover with cold water and bring to the boil.
Simmer for 1 hour 40 minutes and turn once halfway.
Pre heat the oven to 200C/180C Fan/ Gas 6
Whilst the gammon is cooking mix the mustard and honey in a bowl.
Once cooked remove the pan. Use a small knife to remove the rind from the joint, leaving as much fat as you can.
Place in a roasting tray lined with foil and pour the marinade over, coating the ham.
Bake for 25 minutes and baste the meat with the marinade from the tin until it develops a crispy crust.
Serve with roasted veggies or even fruit like peaches or pears.