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All The Buzz About Honey There’s nothing new about honey. Records of beekeeping were painted on cave walls as early as 7000 B.C. “In 2007, a remarkable find was made during an archaeological dig in the Beth Shean Valley of Israel. An entire apiary was uncovered from Biblical times, containing more than 30 mostly intact clay hives.” 1
Honey In the Kitchen • There are more than 300 varieties of honey in the U.S. alone, each the result of bees visiting unique flowers, in different climates. These include clover, wildflower, orange blossom, buckwheat, avocado, blueberry, and alfalfa honey, to name just a few. When a label says it is a particular variety, that means that flower was the predominant one from which the honey was gathered. • Honey can be raw, which is not processed, heated, or pasteurized, or it can be pasteurized honey, which is filtered and processed to make it easier to package and pour. • Honey has a long shelf life. Some say it can be kept for two years: others say longer. If honey does crystallize, you can simply place the jar into a pan of hot water for a few minutes, and stir until the crystals have dissolved. • When measuring honey for a recipe, first spritz the spoon or measuring cup with cooking spray, and the honey will slide off easily. • If you’re substituting honey for sugar in a recipe, experts recommend using 1/2- to 3/4-cup of honey for each cup of sugar. You’ll also need to reduce the amount of liquid by 1/4 cup for each cup of sugar you have replaced. The Goodness of Honey Honey is almost totally sugar: 80 percent sugars and 20 percent water. The sugars it contains are 50 percent glucose, and 50 percent fructose. That’s a lot, but honey’s glycemic load is only 3.5, compared to table sugar, which is 65. There is no fat in honey, and just traces of protein. Its vitamin and mineral content varies, depending on the nectar-producing plants the bees collected from. In general, most honey contains B vitamins, calcium, copper, iron and zinc.
It’s Liquid Gold Straight from the Hive
Honey is firmly established in history. Ancient Egyptians used honey as a gift to their gods, in addition to being a more earthly sweetener. The Greeks viewed honey as a healing medicine, and the Romans used it extensively in their cooking. Some Facts Worth “Hiving” • The honey bee is the only insect that produces food for humans. • Honey is produced in every state in the U.S., and in most countries in the world. California, North Dakota, South Dakota, Florida, Montana, and Minnesota produce 63 percent of U.S. honey. • Each year, in the U.S. alone, bees pollinate about 95 crops, worth an estimated $10 billion. • It takes two million flower visits to create a pound of honey. The bee flies 55,000 miles back and forth to create that pound, and visits 50 to 100 flowers in one trip.
By Dee Carroll, Carroll Services Inc.
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Calories: 64 Fat: 0g Sodium: 0mg Carbohydrates: 17g Fiber: 0g Sugars: 17g Protein: 0.1g
• A worker bee makes an average of 1/12 teaspoon of honey in her lifetime. • A honey bee can fly up to 15 miles per hour, beating its wings 11,400 times per minute. This beating action is what makes the familiar buzzing noise we hear. • Honey bees never sleep, which must have inspired the saying, “Busy as a bee.” • An average hive has 50,000 to 60,000 worker bees.
Source: USDA
1 Howland Blackiston, “The History of Honey,” Dummies , March 26, 2016. www.dummies.com/article/home-auto-hobbies/hobby-farming/beekeeping/the-histo- ry-of-honey-144481 Accessed: July 31, 2022.
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