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Bees prepare honey from nectar which they collect from flowers and blossom of trees. They use it, as well as pollen, as food for their young. Honey is a mix of natural sugars (80%), water (18%) and minerals, vitamins, pollen, protein and amino acids (2%). Around 70% of honey's natural sugar content is made up of fructose and glucose
Varieties of Honey
Liquid or set?
Around 70% of honey's natural sugar content is made up of fructose and glucose. Clear and set honeys can be compared to ice and water - two different forms of the same thing. The more glucose a honey contains, the more likely it is to crystallize and therefore become a set honey. All honey starts off as liquid but will set eventually. The speed at which this will happen depends on the sugars they contain and the temperature at which they are kept. Both types are equally pure and contain no additives and there is no difference in the taste or nutritional value of these two states.
Is it true that honey is heated?
Heat is almost always necessary to liquefy honey in order to filter it and actually get it into the jar. Mild heating does not damage the natural enzymes or nutrients (bees maintain a constant 94 degrees inside the hive). This is particularly important with set honey which has a naturally high glucose content.
Does heating destroy the natural flavor of honey?
Quick and/or gentle heating does not destroy the natural flavor of the honey. Nothing is ever added or taken away from honey
Health Benefits
Honey has long been recognized as a natural remedy and has been used as a medicine for thousands of years. It has antiseptic properties and can be used as a remedy for ailments from sore throats to burns and cuts. For a soothing drink for sore throats, mix honey with the juice of half a lemon, add boiling water and stir. If you’re feeling low, try a spoonful of honey as a pick-me-up. The fructose and glucose in honey are quickly absorbed into the bloodstream.
Honey in Cooking
You can use honey in cooking instead of sugar. Because it is sweeter than sugar, you need to use less. The first thing to consider when using honey to cook with is that it is judged to be twice (2 X) as sweet as sugar. Therefore, to get the same sweetness as sugar, you use one half as much as you would of sugar. Honey is about 18% water. If you round that off to 20% you can easily figure that about 1/5th of the honey you add to your recipe is water. Therefore, you cut back on the moisture in your recipe by 20% (1/5th). Honey is hydroscopic (meaning it attracts water) so it is good for baking cakes as it keeps them moist for longer. Look on our recipe pages for some delicious recipes using honey.
History and Heritage
The word ‘honey’ comes from the Germanic word ‘hunaga’ which means golden. Flowering plants which produced pollen and nectar had evolved by the Jurassic period about 150 million years ago, but the bee did not appear until 100 million years later in Asia. To put this into perspective, man has only existed for one or two million years. Thousands of years ago honey was a source of food in times of famine but was mainly regarded as a medicine, with almost religious or magical significance. Honey was the only available source of sugar in countries where it was made. By the time of the Roman Empire, honey production and beekeeping were well established.
Honey Bee Info
The honey bee community consists of three structurally different forms - the queen, which is the only reproductive female; the drone, which is the only reproductive male; and the worker, a non-reproductive female. The queen bee's capacity for laying eggs is amazing as her daily output usually exceeds 1500 times her body weight. The queen's body is longer with a much larger abdomen than a worker bee or a drone. She also has a curved, smooth stinger that she can use repeatedly without endangering her own life whereas a worker bee can only sting once. The queen bee also lacks the working tools possessed by worker bees, such as pollen baskets, beeswax-secreting glands, and a well-developed honey sac. Her larval food consists almost entirely of a secretion called royal jelly that is produced by worker bees.
A healthy colony may contain 80,000 worker bees or more at its peak in summer time. Workers will build and maintain the hive from wax secreted from glands in their abdomen. The hexagonal cells of the comb provide the internal structure of the hive and are used for storage of the young bees and honey. Workers leave the hive to gather nectar, pollen, water, and propolis, which is a gummy substance made from tree sap that has antibacterial properties and is used to seal and caulk the exterior of the hive. They convert the nectar to honey, clean the comb, and feed the larvae, drones, and the queen. They also ventilate the hive, and when necessary, defend the colony with their stings. Workers do not mate and therefore can not produce fertile eggs, however they will occasionally lay infertile eggs, which will become a drone.
Honey bees are the sole source of honey and beeswax, a fine wax with unusual qualities. Honey bees also produce propolis - a gummy substance, royal jelly, and pollen for human consumption. Honey bee venom is extracted for the production of automotive therapy and is being investigated as a treatment for several serious diseases of the muscles, connective tissue, and immune system, including multiple sclerosis and arthritis. Honey is composed of fructose, glucose, and water, but it also contains several enzymes and oils. The color and flavor depend on the age of the honey and the source of the nectar. Light-colored honeys are usually of higher quality than darker honeys; white honey is derived from the Californian white sage. Other high-grade honeys are made by bees from orange blossoms, clover, and alfalfa. A well-known, poorer-grade honey is made from buckwheat. Honey has a fuel value of about 3307 cal/kg (about 1520 cal/lb). It readily picks up moisture from the air and is consequently used as a moistening agent for tobacco and in many baking applications. Honey to be marketed is usually heated by special processes to about 66° C (about 150° F) to dissolve the crystals and is poured into containers that are then sealed to prevent crystallization. The fructose in crystallized honey ferments readily at about 16° C (about 60° F) or over. Fermented honey is used to make honey wine or mead.
A healthy colony may contain 80,000 worker bees or more at its peak in summer time. Workers will build and maintain the hive from wax secreted from glands in their abdomen. The hexagonal cells of the comb provide the internal structure of the hive and are used for storage of the young bees and honey. Workers leave the hive to gather nectar, pollen, water, and propolis, which is a gummy substance made from tree sap that has antibacterial properties and is used to seal and caulk the exterior of the hive. They convert the nectar to honey, clean the comb, and feed the larvae, drones, and the queen. They also ventilate the hive, and when necessary, defend the colony with their stings. Workers do not mate and therefore can not produce fertile eggs, however they will occasionally lay infertile eggs, which will become a drone.Honey bees are the sole source of honey and beeswax, a fine wax with unusual qualities. Honey bees also produce propolis - a gummy substance, royal jelly, and pollen for human consumption. Honey bee venom is extracted for the production of automotive therapy and is being investigated as a treatment for several serious diseases of the muscles, connective tissue, and immune system, including multiple sclerosis and arthritis. Honey is composed of fructose, glucose, and water, but it also contains several enzymes and oils. The color and flavor depend on the age of the honey and the source of the nectar. Light-colored honeys are usually of higher quality than darker honeys; white honey is derived from the Californian white sage. Other high-grade honeys are made by bees from orange blossoms, clover, and alfalfa. A well-known, poorer-grade honey is made from buckwheat. Honey has a fuel value of about 3307 cal/kg (about 1520 cal/lb). It readily picks up moisture from the air and is consequently used as a moistening agent for tobacco and in many baking applications. Honey to be marketed is usually heated by special processes to about 66° C (about 150° F) to dissolve the crystals and is poured into containers that are then sealed to prevent crystallization. The fructose in crystallized honey ferments readily at about 16° C (about 60° F) or over. Fermented honey is used to make honey wine or mead.
Honey Bee (Apis Mellifera)
Description
The honey bee is probably one of the best-known of all insects in the world; it performs a vital role in the pollination of flowering plants, including our crop species. there are three castes within a bee hive, a "queen" ( the reproductive female ), the "drones" ( reproductive males ) and "workers" ( non reproductive females ). All three castes are broadly similar in appearance; the body is covered in short hairs, and is divided into a head, a thorax and an abdomen, the head features two large eyes and pair of antennae. The thorax bears two pairs of wings above, and three pairs of legs below and there is a slender waist between the thorax and abdomen. The queen has a much longer and slender abdomen than the workers, and the drones can be identified by their broader abdomens and much larger eyes.
Glossary
in arthropods ( crustaceans, insects and arachnids ) the abdomen is the hind region of the body, which is usually segmented to a degree. In crustacea (e.g. crabs) the limbs attach to the abdomen; in insects the limbs are attached to the thorax ( the part of the body nearest to the head ) and not the abdomen. In vertebrates the abdomen is the part of the body that contains the internal organs ( except the heart and lungs).
Antennae: pair of sensory structures on the head of invertebrates.
Caste: in social insect colonies, a group of individuals that are structurally and/ or behaviorally distinct, performing certain tasks. Examples are the soldier caste of termites and ants, and the worker of bees.
Larva: stage in an animal's lifecycle after it hatches from the egg. Larvae are typically very different in appearance to adults; they are able to feed and move around but usually are unable to reproduce.
Pupa: stage in an insect's development when huge changes occur, which reorganise the larval form into the adult form. In butterflies the pupa is also called chrysalis.
Pupal stage: stage in an insect's development, when huges changes occur that reorganise the larval form into the adult form. In butterflies the pupa is also called a chrysalis.
Subspecies: a different race of species, which is geographically separated from other populations of that species.
Thorax: part of the body located near the head in animals. In insects, the three segments between the head and the abdomen, each of which has a pair of legs.
