SOME REFERENCES ON PLANTS THAT PRODUCE HONEY

There are a handful of good books and resources that will give you all the information you are looking for about honey producing plants.

Books

Louisiana Honey Plants, Dale Pollet, LSU Ag Center, LA Coop Extension Service

Plants For Beekeeping In Canada and the northern States, Jane Ramesy, IBRA

Weeds Of California and Other Western States, Vol. I & II, DiTomaso & Healy, CA Weed Science Society

Wetland Plants of Western Wasington and Northwestern Oregon, Sarah Cooke, Seattle Audubon Society

American Honey Plants, Frank Pellett, Dadant & Son (reprints available)

Weeds Of The Northeast, Richard H. Uva, Joseph C. Neal, Joseph M. DiTomaso, Comstock Publishing

Texas Honey Plants, Sanborn & Scholl, Dept. Of Ent., College Station, TX

Honey Plants Of California, M.C. Richter, CA, Experiment Station

Weeds Of The South, Bryson and DeFelice, Univ. GA Press

Silvics Of Forest Trees, H. A. Fowells, USDA Handbook 271

Honey Plants Of North America, John Lovell, A. I. Root Company (reprint available)

Insect Pollination Of Cultivated Crop Plants, S. E. McGregor, USDA Hand book 496 (reprint available)

The USDA Invasive Plant List

Invasive Plants list from various states, and the USDA Plants list.gov

The Internet

There’s certainly a wealth of information and misinformation on the Internet. How are you to know if the information you’re accessing is accurate? We have a rule when using the Internet: The source needs to verify itself with scientific references, which themselves have to be easily verified. It’s not a foolproof system, but it’s proven to be a reliable system for us.

Start with Wikipedia. We advise you to start a search on this site when looking for plant information because the sources are plentiful and often most of what you need can be found there. Don’t assume, however, that Wikipedia is perfect, because sometimes it’s more opinion than fact. A good Wikipedia entry always lists the sources used to present the data.

Always reliable is the USDA plants database: plants.usda.gov

But always check further, usually with a University reference.

Of course you may want additional information on a particular plant. If you have succumbed to our descriptions of some of these varietal honeys, perhaps becoming a beekeeper is in your future and growing one of these plants to produce the honey is interesting. For instance, one avocado tree can provide much in the way of that honey for a hive in the back yard and garden forums can provide insights that sound science sometimes overlooks. A good site to look at is: forums. gardenweb.com, where personal experience can often outweigh hard science. So be sure to check out sources like those as well.

For more information on honey tasting visit www.americanhoneytastingsociety.com.

Photo Credits

Photographs © copyright: Africa Studio p. 132, p. 181; Allen WorldWide p. 167; ANCH p. 36; andersphoto p. 178; Andrew Purcell photography and Micah Morton styling p. 43, p. 145, p. 158, p. 165, p. 186, p. 189, p. 191, p. 192, p. 195; Anna Sedneva p. 49; Batareykin p. 22; Bine p. 150; Brzostowska p. 14; Crepesoles p. 146; Darios p. 40; Darryl Vest p. 31; de2marco p. 31; design56 p 173; Forewer p. 139; Fredredhat p. 19; Fribus Ekaterina p. 184; Galyna Andrushko p. 36; Garsya p. 137; Gayvoronskaya_Yana p. 178; Geoffrey Kuchera p. 162-163; Giuliano Coman p. 167; grafvision p. 39; haveseen p. 173; hvoya p. 185; Imageman p. 185; Inaquim p. 24-25; irin-k p. 134; J.K. York p. 30; Joannawnuk p. 20; J.Y. p 142; JIANG HONGYAN p. 144; JinYoung Lee p. 131; jordache p. 147; Jorge Moro p. 28-29; Juice Team p. 178; Justyna Kaminska p. 170; KAZMAT p. 35; Khamidulin Sergey p. 161; kuleczka p. 140; LanKS p. 160; Larina Natalia p. 169, p. 174; Le Do p. 30; Lidante p. 177; LilKar p. 7; M. Unal Ozmen p. 183; Madlen p. 130, p. 167; Manamana p. 33; MARGRIT HIRSCH p. 34; matin p. 167; Minerva Studio p. 51; Monticello p. 152; Msheldrake p. 2; Nadezda Verbenko p. 48; Nattika p. 182; Nikola Bilic p. 17; Nikola Spasenoski p. 135; NinaM p. 50; Olinchuk p. 16; Pakhnyushcha p. 13; Picsfive p. 167; Pixy p. 34; Preto Perola p. 178; Reika p. 178; Richard Griffin p. 26; saddako p. 180; saied shahin kiya p. 130; Seregam p. 178; Sergio33 p. 32; Sergiy Telesh p. 183; Sherjaca p. 46; Stocksnapper p. 182, p. 183; Straga p. 8; StudioSmart p. 155; Takiev Alexander p. 10; Texturis p. 33; Todd Klassy p. 32; Videowokart p. 35; Viktar Malyshchyts p. 166; Volosina p. 166; weter 777 p. 157; Yutilova Elena p. 148