How Is Honey Produced?
Honey is produced by bees, which collect nectar secreted by plants or honeydew. Honeydew is a substance excreted by
certain insects that feed on plant sap and then excrete a sweet
liquid that bees collect. In terms of origin, a distinction is made
between flower honey and honeydew honey. Flower honey is lighter, whereas honeydew honey is darker.
Bees carry this basic material to the beehive in their honey stomachs,
where they process and thicken it and add their glandular secretions to it. In the end, they store it in the honeycombs.
The basic honey material – that is, nectar or honeydew – contains too much water for a long shelf life; the surplus water must
evaporate and ripe honey therefore contains a maximum of 20% water. Honey containing more than 20% water would facilitate
the reproduction of yeasts, which prefer environments with a high water content, thus causing the honey to ferment. The best
honey contains no more than 18.6% water.
Slovenian beekeepers
consistently follow this guideline because their honey usually
contains 15 to 16% water.
The honey material – that is, nectar or honeydew – usually contains complex sugars, primarily sucrose. Bees use the enzymes
secreted from their glands to decompose these sugars into glucose and
fructose; that is, simple sugars that the human metabolism can immediately use as a source of energy. This is one of the
reasons honey is a better source of energy than table sugar.
In this respect, honey contains mainly fructose and glucose,
and
a bit of sucrose; however, honeydew honey may also contain a small
percentage of polysaccharides. The sugar ratio depends on
the type of honey and the effectiveness of enzymes. Because fructose
dissolves in water faster than glucose, honey with more fructose
crystallizes more slowly, and honey with more glucose crystallizes
faster. Thus, flower honey will crystallize much faster
than, for example, black locust honey. If your honey has crystallized, there
is no need for alarm. You can be sure that the honey you
bought is natural and high-quality. Crystallization is a completely natural
phenomenon that happens sooner or later and does not cause
any chemical changes in the honey or affect its quality.
Crystallized honey can be liquefied in a water bath, but one must make sure its temperature does not exceed 40 °C. Otherwise,
certain components, such as enzymes, hormones, and vitamins, may
be damaged or even destroyed. This honey will lose some of
its nutritional value, but can still be used as a sweetener. This
is why honey should not be used with tea that is too hot. Honey can
be added to various dishes (sauces, vegetables, and meats) to achieve a special or unique aroma.
VRSTE MEDU
Slovenian beekeepers can boast a relatively wide variety of honey.The types of honey are named after the plants from which
bees collect nectar or sugary sap. In Slovenia, these include blacklocust, linden,
spruce, oak, chestnut, fir, rapeseed, sage, buckwheat,and other species.Slovenia’s
plant diversity is also the reason for such a large number of various types
of honey, such as
black locust, linden, spruce, chestnut, fir, dandelion, and so on.
Each type of honey has specific sensory as well as physical and
chemical characteristics. It also contains a significant quantityof pollen of
the specific plant species, whereas honeydew
honey has a significant quantity of honeydew elements.
Bees do not collect material only on one plant, and it often happens that honey
may not have the typical characteristics of a
specific honey type. In this case, it can be labeled flower honeyor honeydew or forest honey.
The mildest honey is black locust honey, which is almost translucentor has a straw-yellow color. Because of its mild aroma it is
excellent for sweetening tea, coffee, cereals, and drinks, as well as making
ice cream. It does not contain a lot of pollen and crystallizesvery slowly.
Linden honey has a fresh aroma of linden blossoms and menthol.It has a light yellow to greenish light amber color. It can be
of either nectar or honeydew origin. In the first type it crystallizes quickly,
and in the latter crystallization is slow.
If you prefer a stronger and somewhat bitter flavor, chestnut honey is the right
choice for you. It has a brownish amber color
and a sharp, pungent aroma. The bitter aroma comes from the large quantity of
chestnut pollen, which gives it a special value.
When it comes to honeydew honey, spruce and fir honey are the most typical.
Spruce honey has a reddish-brown color, and a gentle resin aroma reminiscent
of spruce tip syrup or herbal candies. Sometimes it crystallizes quickly.
When bees collect most of the honeydew on fir trees, this type of honey is called
fir honey. It has a greenish dark grey color and has an aroma of resin, smoke,
burnt sugar, fresh conifer wood,and spruce tip syrup. It crystallizes slowly and forms large crystals.
When tasting various types of honey, you may take a completely different type
of honey home than you initially planned. Each
type of honey is its own microcosm.
OTHER BEE PRODUCTS
Bees collect pollen on plants and enrich it with various enzymes,hormones, and
antibiotic-like substances. In folk medicine, pollen is used to treat prostate
diseases, loss of appetite, anemia, regulating
digestion, and so on. It can be mixed with honey or yoghurt, or prepared as an
infusion. You can also simply crunch it between your teeth, let it slowly dissolve
in your mouth, or wash it down with a drink. Pollen is rich in proteins, amino
acids, and carbohydrates; in
addition, it is a natural stimulant because it strengthens the immune system,
provides energy, and stimulates physical activity.
The basic honey material – that is, nectar or honeydew – contains too much water
to be stored; the surplus water must evaporate, so
that ripe honey contains a maximum of 20% water. Honey containing more than 20%
water would facilitate the reproduction of yeasts,
which prefer environments with a high water content, thus causing the honey to
ferment. The best honey contains no more than 18.6%
water. Slovenian beekeepers follow this guideline very closely because
their honey usually contains 15 to 16% water.
Royal jelly is excreted by worker bees. Nurse bees use it to feed larvae up to
three days old and to feed the queen throughout her
life. It is thanks to this special type of food that a larva develops into
a queen and not a worker bee. When the cells contain the maximum amount of royal
jelly, the beekeeper harvests it. However, harvesting
royal jelly is extremely demanding.Royal jelly has great nutritional value. In
folk medicine, it is used to reduce blood pressure, and to treat skin problems,
diabetes, menstrual problems,and numerous other ailments. It should be used in small quantities.
Propolis is also a valuable product of the hive. Bees collect resinous
substances from living parts
of the plants, primarily buds.
When feeding the brood, they disgorge the resinous skins of the pollen and add
them to
these substances. This is how
they produce propolis, which has a brown to greenish-brown
color. More than 360 ingredients have been identified in propolis.
It is very effective in fighting mildews, bacteria, yeasts, and viruses, and
is therefore used to
relieve numerous problems. It helps with respiratory diseases,
digestive disorders, endocrine
gland deficiencies, and various skin ailments.
Beeswax mixed with honey is used to treat infections
of the oral cavity or esophageal and
gastric infections. It is also used
in the cosmetics industry, primarily in the production of creams
.
Bee venom can be used in various products (ointments, creams,and injections)
to treat chronic and acute arthritis and multiple sclerosis,and to reduce blood pressure. |
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