Honey Odyssey

Unifloral honey

Heather honey

Calluna vulgaris

Heather honey comes from ling heather, a late-summer source in Northern and Western Europe. It is dark, with a reddish-orange tone, and shows thixotropy: colloidal proteins give it a jelly-like consistency, and beekeepers use needle tools that stir the honey in each cell into a fluid state for extraction. Codex and EU rules allow it up to 23% moisture.

Heather honey
Photo: Ryan Hodnett, CC BY-SA 4.0

What we know

Origin and plant

  • Ling heather is widely distributed in Northern and Western Europe.

    Confirmed fact[1]

How to recognise it

  • Heather pollen often makes up less than 45% of the pollen in heather honey, which the descriptive sheets suggest may be due to the particular extraction technique.

    Confirmed fact[1]

  • When the honey is liquid, its typical gel consistency is one of the diagnostic features of heather honey.

    Confirmed fact[1]

  • Its colour is dark to very dark with a reddish or orange tone, averaging 76.9 ± 18.5 mm Pfund.

    Confirmed fact[1]

  • In sensory analysis the odour is medium to strong, woody, floral, fresh fruit and warm; sweetness is weak, bitterness and acidity medium.

    Observation[1]

Composition

  • Heather honey shows thixotropy: colloidal proteins give it a jelly-like consistency.

    Confirmed fact[1]

Crystallisation and storage

  • The descriptive sheets say heather honey's high water content, due to its production season, and a quick rise in HMF, due to high acidity, give it a shorter shelf life than other honeys.

    Confirmed fact[1]

  • It crystallises at a moderate rate and often forms big rounded crystals.

    Confirmed fact[1]

Production

  • Heather is one of the most important late-summer sources for honey production.

    Confirmed fact[1]

  • Because of this gel, beekeepers use special needle tools that stir the honey in each cell to make it fluid for extraction.

    Confirmed fact[1]

Standards and rules

  • Codex allows heather honey up to 23% moisture, compared with 20% for most honeys.

    Confirmed fact[3]

  • EU law also sets 23% for heather honey and allows 25% for baker's honey from heather.

    Confirmed fact[2]

Honey Odyssey describes composition, origin and tradition. It does not give medical advice or health claims.

Continue

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Chestnut honeyCastanea sativa
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Linden (lime) honeyTilia spp.
Manuka honey
Manuka honeyLeptospermum scoparium

Sources

  1. Persano Oddo L., Piro R. (2004) Main European unifloral honeys: descriptive sheets. Apidologie 35 (Suppl. 1): S38-S81. doi:10.1051/apido:2004049 Link
  2. Council Directive 2001/110/EC of 20 December 2001 relating to honey. Official Journal of the European Communities L 10, 12.1.2002, p. 47 Link
  3. Codex Alimentarius Commission. Revised Codex Standard for Honey, CODEX STAN 12-1981, Rev.1 (1987), Rev.2 (2001). FAO/WHO Link

Last checked: 20 October 2026. Every statement on this page was compared with the source it cites.