Acacia Honey

[Juliana8782]

Hi all

I have been trying to locate an Australian manufacturer/supplier of acacia honey, without success.
I know it's quite popular in Europe, but for some reason I can't find anyone who sells it here in Australia.
If anyone knows where I could buy some here, or why it's so hard to come by, could you let me know?

Thanks!!

[Santalum]

I think you will find Acacias are not good producers of nectar but prolific producers of pollen. In other words you get bees able to access lots of protein but unable to produce energy rich honey.

The Australian Sandalwood industry is Australia's major planter of Acacias and as of yet the apiarists are yet to bring their hives to our orchards ...

[Juliana8782]

Thanks for that.
As an aside, I saw on the net that St Dalfour (the jam company) sell acacia honey in the US. I called the Australian office to see if they can get it in and they said that they don't project many sales for it in Australia and don't care to compete with the good range of local honeys already on the marklet.
Looks like I'll have to wait till I go to Europe...

[planthunter]

Acacia honey is popular over here in the UK. We can buy it in all the big supermarkets. It is also produced in some parts of Southern Europe but most if it is imported from Australia.

[Thomas B]

Is it possible that only the overseas acacias produce reasonable amounts of nectar? It seems like a possible explanation for the lack of Australian Wattle honeys.

[planthunter]

Most of the acacia honey produced in Europe is from an introduced American species of acacia ie Robinia pseudo acacia which although not a typical wattle it is related.
If I walk into a supermarket over here in the UK there is a good selection of real Australian honeys. It is generally a mix of Acacia and Eucalyptus and is labeled as "produce of Australia" one of my favorite ones is the Tasmanian Leatherwood Honey, lovely.
The UK produces not nearly enough honey to keep up with demand so it has to import from overseas such as yourselves and NZ, oddly enough the UK does not import honey from the Northern Hemisphere other than Southern Europe. You would think we would import from the USA as well.
In September I shall be taking part in a Beekeeping course as I intend to keep some hives and produce my own honey and sell it on.

[roughbarked]

Australian Acacia provide much pollen for bees to utilise and they valiantly try to, however the pollen is heavy and falls to the ground under the tree. The bees have other sources of food and will utilise the easiest sources first.

By far the best Australian honey is that from Eucalyptus melliodora. The name means the smell of honey or of an odour favoured by bees.

[Thomas B]

I have just checked, and Australian acacias, like Roughbarked says, do not rely on nectar for pollinator attraction. Native bees and other insects instead consume some of the large amount of pollen produced, but are dusted with pollen in the process. Thus Australian acacias should theoretically not make any honey at all, as bees can only produce honey from nectar, not the other food sources they also utilise.

[roughbarked]

Yes ThomasB. That is exactly what I was saying.

Australian Acacia species do not make a source for honey production.

They do however provide a source of food for new bees.

[planthunter]

So the honey labeled "Acacia Honey" is incorrect then?

[roughbarked]

If referring to Australian Acacia honey.. no such thing, to my knowledge. The family Leguminosae is very large and varied.

See the links on this page.. none are .au links.
http://images.google.com/images?q=Acacia%20honey?

This page for example lists it as "great for an Austrian gourmet food gift"
http://www.markys.com/caviar/customer/p ... ctid=17703

This site says: Origin : Robion, Provence (France)
http://www.bienmanger.com/2F687_Acacia_Honey.html

None of these so called Acacia honeys come from Australian Acacia species.

The most important type of Acacia for honey production in Africa was known as Acacia totalis. One of 19 species utilised in different African regions.

The genus Acacia is apparently not monophyletic. This discovery has led to the breaking up of Acacia into five new genera as discussed in list of Acacia species. In common parlance the term "acacia" is occasionally misapplied to species of the genus Robinia, which also belongs in the pea family. Robinia pseudoacacia, an American species locally known as Black locust, is sometimes called "false acacia" in cultivation in the United Kingdom. Acacia flowers can be distinguished from those of a large related genus, Albizia, by their stamens which are not joined at the base. Also, unlike individual Mimosa flowers, those of Acacia have more than 10 stamens. the Acacia naming issue

The production of acacia honey in Bulgaria represents up to 10% of the annual production of bee honey in the country.
The following acacia species are spread:
white acacia (Robinia pseudoacacia) - the most wide spread type on a territory of about 900,000 decares. Blooming period - end of May, beginning of June.
yellow acacia (Caragana arbolescens) - with area of about 200,000 decares and blooming period April-May.
Acacia viscous (Robinia viscose Vent) about 120,000 decares, blooms in June.
Japanese acacia (Sophora japonica) - blooms in July-August.