Many people know that honey is good for us and many more know how great it tastes, but not everyone knows just how many different aspects there are to honey. Anthropologists and archaeologists believe that man has been hunting for honey for over 10 000 years. We have been keeping bees for millennia and they are mentioned in many religious texts. They provide us with many natural products including, honey, propolis, beeswax and pollen, all of which have been extremely useful to us. This post is only going to focus on honey.

Honey is made from the nectar found in flowers which is collected by bees and then partially digested before being regurgitated and stored in the honeycomb as a source of food for the bee larvae. Honey is sweet because it is made up of the sugars fructose and glucose and trace elements of amino acids and other beneficial qualities.

Quite frankly books could be filled about the benefits of honey and its many properties and complexities. Therefore this will just be a mere glimpse into some of the claims that are made about honey.

How to find the best quality honey

The best honey that you can buy should be locally produced and as unprocessed as possible. This is because many of the benefits of honey only occur when it is in its natural state. Usually honey that is mass produced is heated so that it can be strained and bottled. The problem with heating honey is that if you heat it above 45 degrees you are destroying the enzymes that are so beneficial in honey. You therefore loose a lot of the benefits of the honey. It will still taste sweet, but will not be as good for you.

So what are the indicators of good quality honey? A strong fragrance and a depth of taste are good indicators, although different honeys taste different depending on the nectar used to make it. Quality honey should easily flow off a knife or spoon in a steady unbroken stream at a temperature of twenty degrees Celsius. The honey should form layers before being slowly absorbed into the rest. This indicates a high viscosity and means that the water content is less than twenty percent. This is because untreated honey contains small amounts of yeasts and these can ferment if there is a high water content.

To tell if the jar you want to buy has a high water content, turn the jar upside down and see if the air bubble rises to the top nice and slowly. If the bubble rises to the surface quickly, this indicates that your honey has a high water content and is of a lower quality. Honey with a high pollen content is often cloudy and can contain particles of beeswax. However many people find this unappealing and therefore it is very difficult to track down raw honey. Do not be confused by honey which has been creamed to make it cloudy as this has been done through processing. While colour is not an indicator of honey quality and there are exceptions to the rule, generally speaking, the darker colour the honey, the higher its mineral contents, the pH readings, and the aroma/flavour levels. That said some of the most fragrant honeys can be clear. When buying honey also look for the badger friendly seal. This means that the honey has been harvested in a way that means that animals that rely on honey, such as the badger get their share too.

The chloramphenicol scare

A few years ago there was a scandal surrounding honey. China is one of the worlds biggest exporters of honey and it was discovered that they were treating their bees with an antibiotic called chloramphenicol which can cause a rare but fatal disease in some people. This antibiotic was present in many of the sample of honey that was being exported around the world in 2002. Whilst researching this, I came across an article about an American importer who supposedly did not realise that he was importing contaminated honey that was banned by the US government. They set up a bust that would rival any drug bust seen in the movies and arrested they guy, as well as seizing tonnes of honey that he imported. A man in Australia threatened to expose the fact that some of the Chinese were re routing honey into Australia, having it re packaged before being shipped around the world. Well, he received death threats and the brakes failed on his car, so he kept quiet. That is how seriously people take honey! In 2007 it was released that Peels Honey which comes from KwaZulu Natal had been contaminated by chloramphenicol, as they had been blending with an external source. Well Peel's honey was whipped off the shelves of Pick n' Pay in KZN and the Eastern Cape which stocked it. As of 2007 Woolworths and Shoprite claimed that they had never stocked honey imported from China. Pick n' Pay has since asked each of its suppliers to provide proof that testing has been conducted. Any honey that is blended should state the proportions and origins of the honey. I guess the moral of this tale is that one should try and support our local honey producers as much as possible.

Some of the health benefits associated with honey

One of the health benefits of honey is that it is an antibacterial, and has been applied to cuts and wounds since the time of the Romans and continued into the twentieth century till the advent of modern antibiotics. Honey has a high sugar, low protein composition, and therefore honey acts as a natural "antimicrobial" that limits the growth of bacteria by cutting off the supply of water and nitrogen. When honey is applied to a wound, it is diluted with fluids from the damaged tissue and combines with an enzyme added by the bee to form hydrogen peroxide, the same disinfectant found in pharmacies. The naturally occurring hydrogen peroxide promotes healing and reduces scarring as it is slowly released into the wound. Honey helps to fight off infection in this manner and also reduces the incidences of scarring.

Many people promote the use of honey as an anti allergen. The theory behind this is that as honey contains small amounts of the pollen, if you eat a small amount of honey every day you should become desensitised to the pollen and helps your body build antibodies towards the pollens. This works best if you buy honey from a local producer, as the local bees will have been exposed to the same pollens that are found in your area. You should take two tablespoons in the morning every day starting about a month before your pollen season. There is no scientific research that I could find to back up these claims other than the testimonials of hundreds of people who have tried it and swear by it.

It can apparently lower blood pressure and prevent heart attacks. It is recommended that the honey be eaten with cinnamon daily to help reduce blood pressure and cholesterol. There has been some preliminary research done that may support this but it is currently inconclusive.

Honey has long been used to soothe sore throats, as an additive to cosmetics and part of beauty regimes, not to mention being used to sweeten food, and make Mead. Most households have some honey lurking in their cupboards. Next time you want to buy some honey, consider supporting your local bee keepers. You can find a list of places that sell honey here. Or try your local health shop or food market.

Next time you use honey stop and consider just what amazing stuff it really is.