> Black Forrest honey, green honey, pine honey and honeydew honey are all the
> same honey.

This is overly simplistic - like saying all flower honey is the same.
Honeydew honeys come from a vast array of plant/insect combinations.  Aphids
and more commonly scale insects are the source.  Here in NZ we have several
species of scale insects that inhabit several species of plants.  Each
combination has the potential to produce a different product.  One produces a
significant crop of honeydew (our largest singe exported honey type).  Check
it our at :

www.airborne.co.nz and look under NZ Honey => Honeydew.

Manuka is also often a source of honeydew with many of the plants covered in
sooty moulds.

> The bees gather the excrement

We prefer the term "exudation"  :-)   Makes it easier to sell!!

> I do recommend everyone try to get a taste of honeydew. I was always
> told it looks and tastes like 40 weight motor oil..... it doesn't.

It certainly doesn't.  In fact the many varieties of honeydew I have tasted
from around the World have a great diversity of flavour.

Some of our honeydews have very high H202 activity.  Honeydew is also often
differentiated in the lab by its higher conductivity (around 5-10 times
higher than flower honeys) due to the higher mineral content.

Black Forest honey has a reputation for being a very healthy honey.

Cheers,
Peter Bray
_________________________________________________________
Airborne Honey Ltd., Pennington St, PO Box 28, Leeston,
New Zealand Fax 64-3-324-3236,  Phone 64-3-324-3569
http://www.airborne.co.nz  [log in to unmask]