About Honey
Honey is produced from nectar collected from flowering trees and plants. Worker honey bees transform the floral nectar they gather into honey by adding enzymes to the nectar and reducing the moisture. The honey is stored in honey comb and used year round as food. There are many types, colors and flavors of honey, depending upon its nectar source. No matter what the nectar source, honey is an easily digestible, pure food.
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How is honey made?
The 60,000 or so bees in a beehive may collectively travel as much as 55,000 miles and visit more than two million flowers to gather enough nectar to make just a pound of honey!
The color and flavor of honey differ depending on the bees’ nectar source (the blossoms). In fact, there are more than 300 unique kinds of honey in the United States, originating from such diverse floral sources as Clover, Eucalyptus and Orange Blossoms. In general, lighter colored honeys are mild in flavor, while darker honeys are usually more robust in flavor.
What makes up honey?
A bottle of pure honey contains the natural sweet substance produced by honey bees from the nectar of plants or secretions of living parts of plants.
When scientists begin to look for all of the elements found in this wonderful product of nature, they find a complex potion of naturally flavored sugars as well as trace enzymes, minerals, vitamins, and amino acids. (Complete information concerning honey’s chemical makeup and nutritional content is available in the downloadable PDF brochure, “Honey, a Reference Guide to Nature’s Sweetener”). .
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Did You Know?
Honey facts to stick to you!
Honey and the Bee
Honey bees have been producing honey in the same way for 150 million years.
There are many types, colors and flavors of honey, depending upon its nectar source. The bees make honey from the nectar they collect from flowering trees and plants. Honey bees must gather nectar from two million flowers to make one pound of honey. One bee has to fly three times around the globe, to make one pound of honey. The average bee will make only 1/12th of a teaspoon of honey in its lifetime. Honey is used by the bees for food all year long.
The honey is stored in honey comb and used year round as food. Worker honey bees transform the floral nectar they gather into honey by adding enzymes to the nectar and reducing the moisture. No matter what the nectar source, honey is an easily digestible, pure food.
Honey is Hygroscopic
This means it collects moisture.
If it's left uncovered, honey will begin to collect moisture from the atmosphere.
Honey’s ability to attract and retain moisture means that it has long been used as a beauty treatment. It is believed to have been a part of Cleopatra’s daily beauty regimen.
Honey is Medicinal
Honey has always been highly regarded as a medicine - from soothing allergies to it's antiseptic and antibacterial qualities!
It is thought to help with everything from sore throats and digestive disorders to skin problems and hay fever. Some say a spoonful of local honey makes the sneezing and sniffling symptoms of allergies go away!
Honey has antiseptic properties and was historically used as a dressing for wounds and a first aid treatment for burns and cuts.
Honey also has antibacterial qualities. The healing property of honey is due to the fact that it offers antibacterial activity, maintains a moist wound condition, and its high viscosity helps to provide a protective barrier to prevent infection. The antimicrobial activity in most honey is due to the enzymatic production of hydrogen peroxide.*
*Cited: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3609166/
Yum, Honey!
Honey is the ONLY food source produced by an insect that humans eat.
Honey is the only food that includes all the substances necessary to sustain life, including enzymes, vitamins, minerals, and water. The average American eats about one pound of honey a year.
The natural fruit sugars in honey – fructose and glucose – are quickly digested by the body. This is why sportsmen and athletes use honey to give them a natural energy boost. It’s the only food that contains “pinocembrin”, an antioxidant associated with improved brain functioning.
Honey lasts an incredibly long time. An explorer who found a 2000 year old jar of honey in an Egyptian tomb said it tasted delicious!
Mind your own Beeswax!
Beeswax is a building block of the hive.
Beeswax, secreted from honey bee glands, has many applications, including drugs, cosmetics, furniture polish and candles.
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