What You DIDN'T Know About HONEY

 

you can use it as a substitute for sugar  for certain medicinal properties and to  seal food what is it  keep reading to discover some amazing  facts about honey number 17 how it's  made  bees collect nectar a sweet secretion  from plants to attract insects from  various flowering plants and take it  back to the hive from there the beasts  chew the nectar removing most of the  water until it becomes the golden  substance known as honey the bees then  use their wings to further evaporate the  water from the honey and when they're  satisfied they use the wax they create  to seal each honeycomb bees usually keep  their hives very warm approximately 35  degrees Celsius or 95 degrees Fahrenheit  that keeps the honey and a mostly liquid  form which is ideal for harvesting  number 16  dancing bees bees are able to  communicate where food sources are by a  process called the waggle dance in the  1940s Austrian biologist Karl von Frisch  was the first to devise an experiment to  discover how to understand how bees  found food he set to feeding stations  and noticed that bees from the first  feeding station danced differently than  the bees that came from the second  feeding station the dance consists of  two parts the orientation of the  distance which allows the rest of the  colony to know what angle to fly in  relation to the Sun and the duration of  the waggle which tells bees how far the  food sources from the hive the honey bee  has an internal clock that is able to  consistently know where the Sun is  located at all times this helps them to  accurately tell the hive which direction  to fly the duration of the waggle part  of the dance will lengthen about one  second per one kilometer of distance to  the new food source number 15 honey  laundering producing honey takes time  and it's not an easy process so it  shouldn't come as a surprise to hear  that some companies are cutting honey  with artificial sweeteners and marketing  as pure honey some honey producing  companies will produce batches of honey  and remove the pollen profile by a  process called ultra filtration this  means the honey's origins can no longer  be traced and all of the healthy parts  like antioxidants or natural antibiotic  properties are gone one way to tell if  your honey is real honey is to check the  label for high fructose corn syrup and  other artificial sweeteners or look for  the label that says true source in June  2016 homeland security investigations  and Customs and Border Protection's  seized 60 tons of fake honey as a part  of the largest food fraud investigation  in US history number 14  hallucinogenic honey the Himalayan honey  be the largest honey bee on earth  creates honey from the rhododendron  plants surrounding the area red honey or  mad honey has an intoxicating effect  created by Granite oxen and is nearly  $80 a pound though you would never see  this honey in a supermarket these bees  make their nests on cliffs sides  hundreds of feet from the ground and the  only way to get them is a precarious  bamboo rope ladder they can sting  through most beekeeper suits and  thousands of bees can inhabit the area  still interested in the mad honey then  book a flight to the Himalayas because  the last honey hunter is retiring number  13  honeycomb snack don't want to wait for  the honey to be processed and placed in  a jar a popular snack is eating the  honeycomb in the raw people have been  eating raw honeycomb for centuries and  some beekeepers and honey harvesters  will break off a piece of the hive and  snack on it right there the honeycomb is  made of beeswax and has a texture  similar to chewing gum it gives the  honey a slightly different palate  allowing it to have its own unique  flavor as opposed to mixing honey with  other foods some chefs will add raw  honeycomb to a meal as a garnish number  twelve life-sustaining it's been widely  said that honey contains all the  substances necessary to sustain life  honey contains sucrose calcium potassium  and iron and even vitamins B and C mix  that with water which honey also  contains and these are the building  blocks for a sustainable food source now  that doesn't mean a human can live  solely off of honey but it's definitely  a fantastic addition to your daily  intake according to some sources a human  can live about two months on nothing but  honey number eleven flight of the  bumblebee these are phenomenal creatures  and are known for their work phrases  like busy as a bee come to mind and the  phrase is fitting as the workload of a  standard honeybee is astound  in order to make one pound of honey the  whole hives must fly about 90,000 miles  and visit over 2 million flowers  one bee alone will visit 50 to 100  flowers in one trip and only produce  about 1/12 of the teaspoon of honey in  their life which is only about 122 to  152 days bonus fact worker bees are all  female male bees or drones protect the  hive and mate with the Queen but all of  the work making the honey is done by the  worker bees number 10 beauty it's no  secret that honey is used in many beauty  treatments and products but the actual  benefits of using honey as a natural  beauty product might surprise you using  honey in your hair as a conditioner  keeps moisture locked in giving hair a  soft feel and shiny look the same effect  can be said for a honey facial it  moisturizes and locks in moisture to the  face and has been said to have  anti-aging properties beeswax is a  popular ingredient in lip balms great  for preventing and soothing chapped lips  and hand creams beeswax has also been  noted as an ingredient in eyeliner  mascara mustache waxes shampoo and soap  number 9 energy booster because of  honey's natural carbohydrates honey is a  great source for a quick energy boost  glucose is quickly absorbed giving an  energy boost while fructose absorbs  slowly giving long-lasting energy raw  honey was given to Olympic runners in  ancient Greece  some modern runners will take raw  honeycomb with them in a plastic bag as  a snack while some others will use a  spoonful of honey in their morning tea  to give them the spark they need to get  through the day honey has also been  known to boost metabolism and is used in  a few weight-loss regiments it is said  that the best time to eat honey is on an  empty stomach this allows the enzymes to  digest food faster and more efficiently  helping to reduce weight number 8 no  expiration date because of its ability  to crystallize honey is one of the only  substances in the world that never  spoils in the 1800's some archaeologists  were on a site in Egypt when they  discovered a tomb that was approximately  2,000 years old with a pot of honey in  it they remarked that the substance  still tastes as though it was fresh I  feel badly for the assistant who  to take the leap of faith to try that  number seven a history of honey honey  has been around for thousands of years  there are even hieroglyphs depicting  beekeepers in Cairo and cave painting  some honey harvesters dating back 8,000  years monasteries in medieval Europe  kept bees for their honey and beeswax  was a key ingredient in candle making  beeswax candles burned brightly and left  little to no ash so they were paramount  to the monks who illustrated by their  light Romans used honey to heal their  wounds after battle and it was used as  an offering to the gods number six  sweet currency in medieval Europe some  countries like Germany loved honey so  much that the Lords of certain cities  would place a honey tax on their  subjects it was a high value commodity  as it was used to sweeten their beer and  create Mead a wine made with honey  ancient Egypt consider honey so valuable  that it was used as a currency and the  Pharaohs of Lower Egypt were named B  King number five medicinal properties  having trouble sleeping maybe you have a  sore throat from a cold honey can help  there are multiple medicinal properties  of honey that ancient cultures have been  using since they discovered it honey has  antibacterial properties and can be used  as a solve for open wounds or to soothe  a sunburn its viscous nature can help  coat sore throats and help a cold pass  faster modern scientists have even found  that some properties of honey can help  improve brain function and memory some  experts have even said that consuming  local honey strains can help with  allergies  once the pollen is introduced into the  system it helps the body create  antihistamines for said local pollen  it's not a quick fix by any means but it  could help reduce your seasonal  allergies number four  honey month in the United States the  month of September only has one major  holiday Labor Day and a few other  lesser-known holidays like national  pepperoni pizza day on the 20th or Talk  Like a Pirate Day the day before but did  you know that the whole month of  September has been dubbed national honey  month starting in 1989 its purpose was  to promote beekeeping and honey as a  natural sweetener there's even a  national honey week in the UK which is  usually the first week of May number  three different flowers different  flavors  depending on the flower the bead drinks  from greatly changes the color and  flavor palate of the honey it creates  some examples are eucalyptus which gives  honey a minty flavor avocado with a  darker color and buttery taste and sage  a lighter color and mild flavor sage  honey is a fantastic additive to other  packaged honeys as it takes longer to  granulate number two honey in cooking  honey is an excellent replacement for  sugar in most recipes the high glucose  and fructose levels give honey the same  relative sweetness of granulated sugar  there are thousands of recipes that  include honey as an ingredient including  a true classic that's been around for  hundreds of years  leave'em or roman cheesecake certain  honey flavors can be used for different  recipes darker honey is better for  barbecue sauce than lighter honey and  clover for general baking beeswax has  even been used in a thin sheet as a  substitute for cling wrap  number one not all honey is made by bees  and not all bees make honey there are  only four known species of honey bee but  there are also other insects that create  honey like the honey wasp these insects  just like bees gather their nectar from  nearby flowers and use it to create  their own honey within their hive some  ant species have also been known to  create their own honey and are  considered a delicacy in some countries  are you a fan of honey what do you put  it on let us know in the comments below  and as always thanks for reading