Glossary
The family of honey varieties produced by bees foraging on different clover species (Trifolium and Melilotus). White clover (T. repens), sweet clover (Melilotus officinalis and M. alba), red clover (T. pratense), and crimson clover (T. incarnatum) each produce honey with distinctly different color, flavor, and crystallization profiles.
White clover honey is the most familiar and widely produced clover variety, and for many Americans, it defines what honey tastes like. Light in color (water-white to pale gold) with a mild, clean, slightly floral sweetness, white clover honey is the quintessential table honey. It crystallizes at a moderate rate and develops a smooth, creamy texture.
White clover thrives in lawns, pastures, and roadsides across the northern and midwestern United States. A single acre of blooming white clover can support several thousand bee visits per day, making it one of the most productive honey plants per unit area.
Sweet clover (both yellow and white varieties) is the heavy hitter of clover honeys. Growing 3 to 5 feet tall with prolific blooms, sweet clover can produce surplus honey at rates of 100 to 200 pounds per colony in good years, making it one of the most productive honey plants in North America.
Sweet clover honey is lighter in color than white clover with a very mild, slightly vanilla-like sweetness that some palates detect. It was historically the dominant commercial honey in the Midwest and Plains states before changes in farming practices reduced sweet clover acreage.
This is a matter of taste. White clover produces the classic, familiar honey flavor. Sweet clover produces milder honey in greater quantities. Red clover produces a slightly darker honey with more flavor. Crimson clover honey is rare and similar to white clover. Each has its fans.
Red clover has deeper flower tubes than white clover, which historically limited honey production because honey bee tongues are shorter than bumble bee tongues. However, bees can access red clover nectar from the side of flowers, and some bee strains with longer tongues do work red clover effectively.
In the United States, yes. Clover honey (primarily white and sweet clover) has been the dominant honey for over a century due to the widespread presence of clover in agricultural landscapes. It accounts for a large percentage of domestic honey production.
Keep Learning
Browse hundreds of terms covering honey, beekeeping, and natural skincare.