Monofloral and Polyfloral
Monofloral honey comes mostly from one flower. Polyfloral comes from whatever was blooming. Neither is better. They are different products.
Monofloral
Bees worked a single dominant bloom during the period the honey was made. In practice no honey is one hundred per cent single source — bees do not read labels — but a dominant bloom gives the honey a consistent, identifiable character.
It requires a monoculture of the plant near the hives and a harvest timed to that bloom alone. That timing is the whole difficulty: mesquite blooms for a few weeks, and if the rain does not come it barely blooms at all.
Examples: mesquite, manuka, acacia, orange blossom, buckwheat.
Polyfloral
Also called wildflower. Made from whatever was in bloom across the season. Rounder, usually sweeter, and different every year — which is either the drawback or the point depending on what you want from it.
Why monofloral costs more
- One harvest window, often only weeks long
- Hives must be placed and moved for it
- A bad rain year can mean no harvest
- It cannot be blended without ceasing to be monofloral
Blending is what makes supermarket honey consistent year to year and cheap. It is also what removes any sense of where it came from.
How to check
A monofloral honey should name the bloom, the region, and ideally the season. If the label says only pure honey, it is blended — there would be no reason to hide a single origin.