Honey Story

Honey is a very delicious thick golden syrup made by a colony of hard-working bees that collects the nectar from various flowers. The working bee use their long tongue to suck the nectar out of the plants and then stores it in their stomachs. The enzymes in the bee stomach will begin to process the sugars in the nectar and convert it into honey. The bee heads back to their hives once their stomachs are all filled with the nectar, there they will regurgitate and empty their stomach for the house bees to process it. The house bees then begin the process of dehydrating the nectar by fanning their wings at top speed, to circulate the air which will absorb all the moisture from the honey. Once all the water has been removed the worker bees deposits the honey into the cells where it begins to thicken. To protect the honey the bee use bees wax to cover the cells, which they produced through glands in their abdomen. The honey is then collected from the hives and colonies, a practice known as beekeeping.

Honey is used in baking and as a natural sweetener and because most microorganisms cannot grow in honey, it can be preserved for many years. History has shown that the oldest record of honey remains were found in Georgia, during the construction of a pipeline, where Archaeologists found the remains on the inner surface of clay vessels which was unearthed in an ancient tomb dating back some 4700- 5500 years. In the year 594 BC, in Ancient Greece, Beekeeping became quite popular around Athens and honey has been known to be used to sweeten baked goods and other foods. It was said that the dead was often buried in or with honey.

Certain religions use honey in their religious ceremonies. In Greece the food of Zeus and the 12 Gods was honey, in the form of nectar and ambrosia. The early Christians used it as a form of spiritual perfection in christening ceremonies. In the Jewish tradition honey is a symbol for the new year Rosh Hashanah, where at the traditional meal, apple slices are dipped in honey and eaten which symbolizes a sweet new year. In Buddhism, honey plays an important role in the festival of Madhu Purnima, celebrated in India and Bangladesh. In Islam an entire chapter in the Qur’an is called an-Nahil (the bees) and honey is strongly recommended for healing purposes.

Honey is known to have medical benefits. In ancient folk medicine honey was used both orally and topically to treat various ailments such as ulcers, gastric disturbances, wounds and burns, by ancient Greeks and Egyptians, and in Ayurveda and traditional Chinese medicine. To date several medical- grade honey products have been approved by the FDA for treating minor wounds and burns. Preliminary evidence suggests that because of its antibacterial properties, it is used in the healing of partial thickness burns 4-5 days faster than other dressings and that post-operative wounds treated with honey heals a lot faster than an antiseptic gauze.

Today, the use of honey has grown tremendously. It is quite popular with restaurant Chefs who uses it to flavor certain dishes and deserts. It is also sought after by a lot of tea connoisseurs around the globe, used in flavoring certain blends. There are over 300 types of honey that exist today all with great health benefits. There is the raw honey and the processed honey which is a type of honey that is infused with dry medicinal herbs and is used to support certain medical issues such as Cold and sinus, Pain and Insomnia. There are some known precautions to be aware of when using honey. People with a weak immune system should not use honey because they can be at risk for bacterial or fungal infection. Also, that honey should not be given to infants because they can develop Botulism after consuming honey contaminated with Clostridium botulinum endospores. In respect to those conditions, I believe it is still safe to say that it’s worth keeping a jar around the ho