Honey is a sweet, thick liquid made by industrious honey bees. Older bees collect nectar from flowers while the younger bees break down the sugars in the nectar. They then fill the honeycomb with it, beat their wings to evaporate most of the water, before capping the cells to trap the honey inside.
The Honey Bee we traditionally think of comes from Asia, but humans have been gathering honey from hives in other locations as far back as 13,000 BCE. Some aboriginal societies in Africa, Australia, Asia and South America still gather honey from wild hives. For those busy bees, it takes more than 5,000 flower visits to make one teaspoon of honey.
Did you know that honey bees have five eyes and on average a worker bee will produce a twelfth of a teaspoon of honey in their entire lifetime.
Store honey in an airtight jar at room temperature and away from sunlight or indirect heat.
Honey is one of the very few foods that has an eternal shelf-life, owing to its perfect combination of lack of water, acidity and presence of hydrogen peroxide.
You can also freeze honey to maintain flavor and color, which can deteriorate with time.
Replace your daily face wash with raw honey! It has antibacterial properties and can even help to heal acne and moisturize dry skin.
You can make a great lip balm from honey, beeswax, and almond oil.
Honeycomb is edible! Spread it on toast with some crunchy peanut butter!
Raw honey can contain harmful bacteria, such as the toxin that causes botulism. Although this might not harm adults, it is dangerous for babies under a year old.
When using honey to replace sugar in a recipe, you’ll only need about half as much honey, since its honey’s sugar flavor is twice as strong .
Reduce baking temperatures by 25 °F, as honey causes batters to brown faster than sugar.
Be aware that honey also adds about three tablespoons of extra liquid per cup to a recipe, so think of reducing the added liquid accordingly.
If your honey starts to crystalize, place the jar in a bowl with warm water until the crystals dissolve or microwave at small increments until they disappear.
Raw honey is a great source of antioxidants, and it possess antibacterial, anti-inflammatory and antifungal properties.
Honey can help sooth a sore throat and relieve your cough.
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