What you may not know about your honey

by RevivingTraditions (follow)

Nutrition (244)      Therapeutic Foods (49)     

No, not your partner.
The sweeter honey. The honey you eat on toast and mix with tea.



Today I invite you to learn about this type of honey. You’re more than likely going to discover something new!



5 Facts in Honey Production:

1. Honey bees make honey from plant nectar. When bees gather nectar they also add enzymes to the honey that give it its unique taste and potent health benefits.
2. Wax producing glands under the bees’ abdomen slowly excrete slivers of wax. The bees seal the cells that house the honey with a white beeswax capping.
3. When bees have access to large areas of one kind of flower, such as bush mallee, blue gum or clover, they produce honey with a flavour and color typical of that particular plant.
4. Bees blend honey naturally by combining the pollens from many different flowers in areas where no one flower predominates.
5. Honeys also are blended during packing to create a specific taste.


You may have noticed that there are different textures and forms of honey in the store. Here’s a quick guide to know what is what:



Honey Categories:

Comb Honey (honeycomb)
Direct from the hive honey-filled beeswax comb as stored naturally by the bees.

Liquid Honey (extracted)
Prepared by cutting off the wax cappings and whirling the comb in a honey extractor, where centrifugal force moves the honey out of the cells.

Creamed Honey (granulated)
Made by blending one part finely granulated honey with nine parts liquid honey. The mixture is stored at about 57 degrees until it becomes firm.

Raw Honey
Untreated and full of enzymes and good bacteria, this honey has many health benefits. Raw honey is not safe for infants or folks with weak immune systems because of the bacterial content.

Not-raw Honey
Most honey in stores is NOT raw honey, meaning is has been heated to high temperatures to kill off all bacteria. This type of honey does not offer nearly as many health benefits are raw honey.



And finally, here is a very handy list of the different types of honey and how to best use each type:

Bush Mallee
This is a rich and strong flavoured honey. It goes well with strong tea and would also go well drizzled over mueslis with lots of different flavours, and used in marinades with soy sauce and sesame oil.

Meadow Honey
This is a delicately flavoured honey. It would be perfect on fresh bread or toast with butter or drizzled over yoghurt and fruit.

Eucalyptus (Blue Gum)
Bold, with a slightly astringent after taste, this honey has a magnificent, earthy yet slightly minty flavour, and is wonderful drizzled on crumpets or used to make honey cakes or ice-creams.

Clover
Keep this neutral pantry staple on the table for last-minute enhancements. It is a great substitute for sugar in baking products.

Manuka
Manuka honey, primarily produced in New Zealand, is used as a natural medicinal product both internally and topically on the skin. It is a great antiseptic. UMF greater than 25 is considered medicinal Manuka honey.

Wildflower
Wildflower honey is often used to describe honey from miscellaneous and undefined flower sources. It goes well with tea or in baking.

Orange Blossom
This is a gorgeously fragrant honey. It has a delightful citrus flavour that would work wonderfully drizzled over pancakes or in cakes and biscuits. It also works well in dressings.

Ironbark
Comes from the Ironbark trees in New South Wales - delightful straw colour and light aroma provides a gentle sweetness. A versatile honey that works particularly well as a straight accompaniment to cheese and fruit platters.

I hope you enjoyed this quick guide to honeys and that you can go to the store with confidence, knowing which honey will go well with your foods.

Related articles
Nine reasons to have a jar of honey in your pharmacy
The benefit of bees

Categories
#Nutrition
#Therapeutic Foods

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