Honey Sweet Facts

Know what? Honey is the only food that does not spoil! What's more it's the only food that is made without destroying any kind of life. Honey kills bacteria...and babies too.

You see, honey is a combination of sugars (dominance of fructose and glucose), and these sugars maintain the life of the honey. So, it does not spoil. Also, because of its high-leveled sugar concentration, honey kills bacteria. Airborne yeasts cannot stay long because moisture content is too low. And because of that, we are back on the track that honey does not spoil. Spores present in honey kills infants because their digestive system is not yet fully developed. The more developed digestive systems of older children and adults generally destroy the spores.

Honey is the only food, researchers observed, without destroying any kind of life. People kill animals for their meat and grab edible leaf-like forms for vegetables. Hehe. Fruit harvesting kills the fruit. Well, it makes the fruit stop growing, you know. So how's honey made? Honeybees gather nectar from flowers (they just gather, they don't kill the flowers). While gathering, the honeybees store the nectar in their *"honey stomach". Once full, they return to their beehive. In the hive they use their "honey stomachs" to ingest and *regurgitate the nectar a lot of times until they get the desired quality. After this, it is stored in the honeycomb.

"After the final regurgitation, the honeycomb is left unsealed. However, the nectar is still high in both water content and natural yeasts which, unchecked, would cause the sugars in the nectar to ferment.The process continues as bees inside the hive fan their wings, creating a strong draft across the honeycomb which enhances evaporation of much of the water from the nectar.This reduction in water content raises the sugar concentration and prevents fermentation. Ripe honey, as removed from the hive by a beekeeper, has a long shelf life and will not ferment if properly sealed." -Wikipedia

Natural head gland substances combine with water evaporation results to honey.

And because of the honey's unique characteristics of killing bacteria and yeasts, and the fact that it will not spoil, honey is used in embalming the dead. This practice is not only present in Ancient Egypt but in other places as well. Honey appears to be effective in killing in some drug-resistant causes also. Its antibacterial characteristics made it good in coughs, acidity, ulcers and the likes. Honey also prevents scarring. They don't usually apply honey directly in the wound but in the dressing.

Honey's little History

Honey was mentioned already more than 10,000 years ago in Sumerian and Babylonian writings. Its name comes from the English hunig (meaning gold) and it was the first and most widespread sweetener used by man. In ancient Egypt, they used it for food and in the mummification process. In ancient Rome, the people used to pay their taxes with honey. Even in Germany, peasants used honey and beeswax to pay. In the Old Testament, honey was always mentioned and compared to Israel-"land of milk and honey". And people in the olden days considered honey as the "nectar of the gods."

Honey is not only used for food, embalming and as an offset to liabilities. It also plays an important role in religious traditions. It was an ingredient to make cement and in furniture polishings. Well..there's a lot more too. A lot more...


Uhhh...end?

*regurgitate- it's like vomiting but done voluntarily. It is used by most species to feed their young. Remember baby Mumble in Happy Feet? When his mom returned back home, she vomited food for Mumble to eat.
*honey stomach- a special stomach where bees place their gathered nectar. It is also where they turn the nectar into honey.

References:

• www.thenibble.com/reviews/main/honey/trivia3.asp#honey
• homecooking.about.com/od/foodhistory/a/honeyhistory.htm
• www.flickr.com/photos/24713472@No4/2385894ooo/