What is Tupelo Honey?

There are many varieties of honey available, but sometimes you might not be exactly sure why certain types are more popular than others. At Winter Park Honey, our Tupelo honey is one of our most popular varieties available, but what makes it a favorite? Tupelo honey has often been referred to as “The Queen of Honeys” due to a few differences that it has when compared to other types of honey. Tupelo honey is harvested and produced from a tree called the “White Ogeechee Tupelo”. It has a higher glucose of approximately 45% and a low glucose of about 30%, which allows it to resist crystallization much longer than other types of honey.

Tupelo honey has a light amber color and is loved for its fruity hints and subtle sweetness. It tends to stay in a liquid form. When consumed, it is able to become absorbed more quickly and releases energy over a longer period of time. It also makes for an ideal sweetener because of it’s higher amount of fructose content, which makes it great for athletes, diabetics, and others with various types of diets.

Producing Tupelo honey can be challenging, because it cannot be produced all year round. In fact, the season for producing Tupelo honey can often only last as little as a few weeks. Tupelo trees generally have a flowering season from early April to May, and their flowers are very fragile. Harvesting Tupelo honey can also be very time consuming. Great care has to be taken to make sure honey from other flower sources aren’t mixed. To do this, hives and combs generally have to be emptied and cleaned or replaced right before the Tupelo harvesting season begins.

Tupelo honey is such a popular choice of honey, Van Morrison named a song after it. Here is an excerpt of his song “Tupelo Honey”:

She’s as sweet as Tupelo honey
She’s an angel of the first degree
She’s as sweet as Tupelo honey
Just like honey from the bee

If you haven’t tried Tupelo honey before, be sure to visit our shop and discover what you’ve been missing out on. Please feel free to leave us a comment and share what your favorite type of honey is as well!