Honey and Bee Facts

Honey and Bee Facts

Honey bees gather nectar from around two million different flowers to make a single pound of honey.

On average a honey bee flies approximately 90,000 miles – three times around the globe – to make one pound of honey.

The average honey bee will actually make, just one twelfth of a teaspoon of honey in its lifetime. During the peak of season, the honey bee’s life lasts just 6 weeks.

12 Other Interesting Facts About Honey

Crystallised honey is spoiled honey
Myth – Ron Brown

There’s a lot of misconception when it comes to crystallisation, also known as granulation. Crystallisation is honey’s natural process of preserving itself. The main reason for this phenomenon is honey’s composition. Typically, honey contains natural sugars and around 20 percent water. Since this is saturated, the glucose may separate from the water and form crystals. However, the honey is largely unchanged and remains both nutritious and tasty.

If your honey is crystallised, follow our 3 simple steps for De-crystallising your honey listed at the end.

Honey is a healthier alternative to artificial sweeteners and table sugar
Fact – Ron Brown

Honey contains healthy nutrients such as vitamins and minerals that artificial sugars don’t have. Honey is much sweeter than table sugar, so you can use less to achieve the same effect and still have a natural, healthier option.

Darker honey or white “foam” means the honey has gone bad
Myth – Ted Hooper

Honey comes in all colours and flavors. The colour, taste, texture and smell of honey can all vary widely depending on the flower; the nectar they produced, how quickly its processed by the bees and the water content of the nectar. As well as the geographical region and its climatic conditions. Warmer temperatures, storage and age also tend to darken the honey and change the flavor.

The white “foam” that appears at the top of honey is simply air. This “foam” is a result of tiny air bubbles in the honey escaping to the top of the bottle. So next time you see this, don’t throw out your honey!

Honey is great for skin care
Fact – Healthline

Raw honey helps balance the bacteria on your skin, which makes it a great product to use for acne. Manuka honey has been studied as an anti-acne product and found to be significantly more effective than other popular products. Honey speeds up your skin cells’ healing processes and can be use as a natural face cleanser.

Honey can be used to make alcoholic beverage
Fact – Brother Adam

Honey has been used for centuries to make an alcoholic drink called (Mead) a type of wine.

To use your kitchen metal spoons for scoping honey is bad, as your spoons will corrode.
Myth- R A Morse

This is an old wives’ tale “a real myth”. Yes; honey is acidic. However, scooping your honey out with a metal spoon is such a quick action that corrosion of the metal is highly unlikely. However, we do not recommend storing a metal spoon within your honey for long periods of time.

Honey can treat wounds
Fact – L E Snelgrove / Malaysian Jungle Warfare School

Right up until the early 20th century honey was used as a conventional therapy to help fight infections. Honey naturally contains antioxidants, antibacterial and anti fungal properties that make it ideal for healing. It was commonly used during the American civil war to treat wounded soldiers and today some military’s teach such technique for survival.

All bees produce honey
Myth – Brother Adam

There are nearly 20,000 known bee species in the world. However, from this number only 5 percent make edible honey. Only honey bees and sting less bees produce enough honey to make harvesting worth while. Bumblebees are know to produce a small amount of honey but they use this for their own colony survival.

Honey is the only true food source produced by an insect that humans eat
Fact – Ted Hooper

With more than 950,000 known insect species in the world, the honey bees are the only insect to produce edible food for humans.

Honey helps soothe a sore throat
Fact – L E Snelgrove

The next time your throat is sore, fix it with honey. Homemade remedies have long used honey to help aide the symptoms of sore throats and colds. Honey acts as an anti-inflammatory and reduces irritation and inflammation. It also contains an enzyme that fights bacteria and can kill infections. A recent study by the Penn State College of Medicine found that honey may offer parents an effective and safe alternative to other cough suppressants.

Honey is a great source of natural energy
Fact – Brother Adam

Honey’s composition is made up of carbohydrates, glucose and a mix of other beneficial substances like vitamins and minerals all of which result in longer lasting energy levels within the body. Carbohydrates are the primary fuel we need to use for giving us energy. They are necessary in our diet to help maintain muscle glycogen. Why not try honey as a sweetener in drinks or on breakfast cereals. Homemade Flap jack with honey instead of Syrup is really nice!

Honey never goes bad
Fact – L E Snelgrove

It is stated in various articles that honey never spoils! However, honey can lose its aroma and flavor over time especially if it’s not stored and kept properly. Because of honey’s composition, it will start to reabsorbs moisture if not sealed properly. Containers of honey discovered in burial chambers in Egypt were found to still be edible after all these years.

3 SIMPLE STEPS TO DE_CRYSTALLISING YOUR HONEY

Ever gone to the cupboard to grab the honey jar only to discover it has crystallised? STOP!! “Don’t panic” and definitely don’t throw it away.

Just follow these 3 simple steps to De-crystallise your honey.

Step 1
Place your jar of honey with its lid off inside a pan/pot. Pour warm water into the pan/pot making sure it does not go in the honey. The water should not exceed 110º F. This will ensure you preserve the properties of the honey. Leave it in the pan/pot until the honey starts to melt.

Step 2
Approximately every 5 minutes remove your jar from the pan/pot, stir the honey and then return it to the warm water. Continue this process until the honey has melted and returned to its liquid state. This step may need to be repeated refreshing the hot water.

Step 3
After your honey has returned to its normal consistency, remove the bottle from the pan and allow your honey to cool. Tightly seal the bottle and store at cool to room temperature.

PLEASE NOTE – To prevent any loss of the honey’s health properties, water should not get above 110F.