Honey is a sweet and viscous fluid produced by honey bees from the nectar of flowers.
COMPOSITION OF HONEY
According to the United States National Honey Board 2003 and various international food regulations honey stipulates a pure product that does not allow for the addition of any other substance...this includes but is not limited to water or other sweeteners.
This article refers exclusively to the honey produced by honey bees (the genus Apis);
TYPES OF HONEY
honey produced by other bees or other insects has very different properties.
Honey is significantly sweeter than table sugar and has attractive chemical properties for baking.
BLENDED HONEY
Honey has a distinctive flavor which leads some people to prefer it over sugar and other sweeteners.
Honey has a very high sugar concentration and because of this it kills most bacteria by crenation.
POLYFLORAL HONEY
Natural airborne yeasts cannot become active in it because the moisture content is too low.
Natural raw honey varies from 14% to 18% moisture content.
MONOFLORAL HONEY
As long as the moisture content remains under 18% virtually no organism can successfully multiply to significant amounts in honey.
Importantly honey which frequently contains dormant endospores of the bacteria Clostridium botulinum can be dangerous to infants as the endospores can transform into toxinproducing bacteria in the infants immature intestinal tract leading to illness and even death (See Precautions below).
HONEYDEW
The study of pollens and spores in raw honey (melissopalynology) can determine floral sources of honey.
Because bees carry an electrostatic charge and can attract other particles the same techniques of melissopalynology can be used in area environmental studies of radioactive particles dust or particulate pollution.
USE OF HONEY
A main effect of bees collecting nectar to make honey is pollination which is crucial for flowering plants.Contents hide 1 Honey formation 2 Composition of honey 3 Types of honey 3.1 Blended 3.2 Polyfloral 3.3 Monofloral 3.4 Honeydew 4 Use of honey 5 Honey in culture and folklore 5.1 Honey in the Quran 6 Medicinal uses and health effects of honey 6.1 Osmotic effect 6.2 Hydrogen peroxide 6.3 Acidity 6.4 Nutraceutical effects 6.5 Other medical applications 7 Honey as a product 7.1 Honey processing 8 Precautions 9 Other descriptions 10 See also 11 External links 12 References Honey formation Honey is laid down by bees as a food source.
In cold weather or when food sources are scarce bees use their stored honey as their source of energy.
HONEY IN CULTURE AND FOLKLORE
By contriving for the bee swarm to make its home in a hive people have been able to semidomesticate the insects.
