Tag Archives: Honey

Let’s talk about our Canarian Honeydew Honey

Banana-Honeydew-honey Canarius | Thursday March 17th, 2016 |
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These bees are doing something really special! They are collecting resinous secretions from below the bracts of a banana inflorescence. They will use them to make a different type of honey, the renown honeydew honey. “Honeydew” is made out of anything except flower nectar and it is different from all other honeys. It is considered healthier than typical bee honey.

Honeydew honey or ”forest honey” is a sticky liquid, rich in sugar and produced by bees from the sweet secretions of aphids or plant lice (group of soft-bodied, sap-sucking, disease vector insects) and other plant sap-sucking insects. It can be found in banana (banana inflorescences) or avocado plantations.

Other species from which honeydew honey is normally extracted from are pine, fir, oak and cork trees, along with other shrubby plants. However in Tenerife, it’s most common in the aforementioned plants.

Honeydew honey is produced in the northern part of Tenerife Island during the warmer months

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Honey-bee

Aphids or “plant lice” inject their mouthparts into the phloem (plant tissue consisting of vessels or sieve-tube elements that carry the produced sap) from which they extract the sugary liquid forced out of the end opening of the gut.

Unlike the common honey extracted by bees from flowers, which is more transparent and sweeter, honeydew honey has a much darker colour. It also tastes less sweet and solidifies with difficulty.

Honeydew honey is very healthy and often recommended. It’s a food that is high in minerals, especially in iron (because it has more conductivity than other types of honey). So it is recommended when there are deficiencies in body iron levels. The sugar levels are also lower than the other honeys.

Honeydew honey is produced in the northern part of Tenerife Island during the warmer months. This type of natural food is very popular in Europe and Turkey for its medicinal use.

On our Canarius online store we sell honeydew honey (also called forest honey) certified, in a glass jar with a net weight of 485 grams. Go ahead and try our honeydew honey. Remember it’s healthier!

Bee Honey VS Palm Honey

Canarius | Friday June 11th, 2010 |
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Palm honey is not Bee honey. It is the concentred sap of the Canary Islands native palm, Phoenix canariensis. It is thinner and darker than bee-honey. Both are natural sweeteners, but there is a big difference in taste and chemical content. The Canary Islands are home to great bee-honeys produced from indigenous flowers. Both bee-honey and palm-honey are used in local cuisine.

Difference in Cuisine and their nutritional content

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  • Bee-Honey is better on: Fresh Fruits, Milk as sweetener.
  • Palm-Honey is better on: Fresh Cheese, Yogourt, Liqueurs.
  • Both are good in: Cakes, Gofio, Sweetener for Tea
Ecological Guarapo

Ecological Guarapo – Palm Honey is typically sold in glass bottles

Chestnut Honey

Chestnut Honey – Bee Honey is typicall sold in glass jars

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There is also a big difference in nutritional content. Palms and bees are different living beings! Both are very healthy products because they contain natural, beneficial chemicals. Their content is different. Palm honey, for example is very rich in Magnesium and Potassium.

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Here we share a table from a study performed on canarian honeys.

ESSAY OF THE CONCENTRATION OF INORGANIC IONS IN THE “PALM HONEY” FROM THE SAP OF THE CANARY ISLANDS PALM.
IONS (%)
 PALM HONEY BEE HONEY
CALCIUM 0,0043 0,006
COPPER 0,00015 0,00007
IRON 0,0010 0,0009
PHOSPHORUS 0,025 0,016
MAGNESIUM 0,019 0,006
POTASSIUM 1,038 0,010
SODIUM 0,056 0,003
ZINC 0,00034 -
Source: “Análisis bromatológico de iones inorgánicos en Miel de Palma”
Alberto Castilla Armas – Pedro Abreu Gonzalez

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You can buy different types of palm-honey and bee-honey from the Canary Islands in the Honey Section of our Shop. We ship to anywhere in Europe.

Natural Palm Honey was our best seller in 2009

Canarius | Saturday January 9th, 2010 |
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Palm Honey is not bee-honey. It the syrup obtained from the sap of the native Canarian palm (Phoenix canariensis). As Canarius.com started to work online, this unique product soon became the best-seller of the shop. This is because our website is visited both by plant-lovers and by people interested in the Canarian foods and cuisine. We plan to improve our offer in 2010 by adding new types and sizes of Palm Honey.

A best seller in Canarius.com

Palm Honey is typical from the island of La Gomera and can be used in many ways. It is darker than typical bee-honey, less dense and richer in vitamines. The unique aroma is reminiscent of maple syrup. About 10 liters of fresh palm sap are needed to produce one liter of this sought after product. Sap extraction is done manually by climbing tall palms one by one, processing is done in small and clean official factories, without artificial ingredients. So, it is relatively expensive if compared to bee honey, even on the local market. It is collected in a sustainable way as the native palm is not killed when the honey is extracted. Just as bee honey it is used as a sweetener for tea and other hot drinks. It is often spread on fresh cheese or traditional desserts, such as Leche Asada, Frangollo, Quesillo, or as a topping for Banana Flambe. It is mixed with the Canarian roasted flour called “gofio” and served as a delicious dessert. Some Canarian restaurants use it as a topping for salads and meat. CANARIUS offers different types of Gofio and  Frangollo, which can be combined with Palm Honey. You can also buy living plants of Phoenix canariensis, the palm species that is used to make this unique “honey”. It is native to the Canary Islands but it is resistant to moderate frosts and grows as a fine ornamental palm.