Honey: curiosity and production

Bees are the only animals to produce an edible substance for humans. honey is a very particular compound, rich in nutritional properties and with a strong antibacterial action . The bees produce honey through the nectar of the flowers which is subsequently processed and amalgamated with some secretions of the bees themselves. Let's find out some curiosities about honey that you almost certainly don't know.

What is honey

Honey is defined as a real food supply for bees. The swarm works tirelessly for the production of this substance. Accumulating food reserves is essential for a hive as the food supply allows the family to feed all its individuals even in the colder seasons when the search for food becomes a losing battle. The swarms have up to 50 or 60 thousand individuals so a good food supply is in the first place to ensure their survival.

But how is honey made ? Bees produce honey by mixing nectar from flowers or plants together with some of their secretions. However, it is appropriate to distinguish real honey from honeydew honey. The main difference between nectar honey and honeydew lies in the raw material which, in the first case is extracted from the flowers, while in the second it is a sweet and sticky substance that it is produced by other insects and which bees subsequently find on the leaves and bark of some trees. Honeydew honey is very different, it has a more liquid consistency that does not crystallize, it is darker and less sweet, the bees produce it as a food alternative.

Honey has no expiration date

First of all, it is important to specify that honey is a food that can be kept for a very long time! It is thought that it can never expire. The explanation is given by the science that exposes the phenomenon by analyzing the composition of the product. Being a very humid and very acidic substance, honey is absolutely not hospitable for the growth and proliferation of bacteria. Bees know in advance that in order to preserve food it is important that no mold or dangerous agents of any kind develop inside it. For this reason, before storing it in the cells they carry out an important ventilation process. The nectar they collect is made up of a lot of water. To keep it at its best, the bees gather and flap their wings together quickly. During this phase the bees heat the mixture and allow the water to evaporate, in this way the substance takes on a different consistency, less liquid and more sticky but obviously it obtains a conservation capacity in excellent condition for a really long period. </ P >

Honey should not be kept in the fridge

As mentioned above, honey is processed to keep it for a long time. Storing it in the refrigerator would be useless and wrong since temperatures that are too low and the internal humidity of the cell could ruin it and alter its taste and texture.

Not all bees produce honey

As we know, the honey bee is one of the most widespread and well-known species but there are actually many bees, about 20,000 different species! Of all these, only a part produces honey, especially those of the Apis Mellifera species.

Its origins are very ancient

Bees have been involved in honey production for millions of years. The proof of this is found in the numerous fossil sources found by researchers. In addition to this, human beings have also used it since ancient times. In particular, in Egypt, the population used it as fine food to be exchanged during the markets. At that time it was a real wealth since they believed that honey was the food of the gods. It is no coincidence that the presence of this substance has often been found in the tombs of many pharaohs. The use of honey then also extended within the Greek civilization as a sweetener or to enrich the taste of wine.

Beekeepers take a limited amount

Each hive can produce a very high quantity of honey per year (up to 30 kg). To produce enough honey, each bee flies miles and visits millions of flowers! After all the work done by bees, the beekeeper takes only part of the substance for his own profit. In fact, to have a good harvest, a third or a little more than what is available would be enough to ensure the bees have enough supplies for the winter and survive without problems. In order for bees to remain strong and healthy, it is obviously necessary that they have enough food available.

Buy honey online

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