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It’s been called the food of the Gods - and for good reason. For centuries it was mankind’s only food sweetener. Being a pre-digested food, honey is a great aid when we are suffering from digestive ailments. It can relieve constipation and, consequently, help lower blood pressure. It’s a gentle laxative for youngsters. It’s an excellent form of quick energy. It contains amino acids that help build up calcium in the body. It is mildly sedative and encourages sleep. And, besides all of this, it tastes great.
We all know that honey comes from bees, but just what is involved in getting it from that buzzing little insect onto your breakfast table. Well, it all takes place at an apiary, so let's check out a typical apiary and see what goes on there.
The foundation of the operation is the bee hive. These large wooden boxes stand on supports a few inches off the ground. The hive is actually comprised of different sections that fit neatly one on top of the other. On the bottom is a base. Above that is what is called the brood chamber. It is here that new bees are bred. Above the brood chamber is the ‘honey super’. It is within these six inch deep chambers that the honey is stored. Inside the super – as well as the brood chamber – are wooden support frames that contain wax combs. These can be easily removed from the hive.
So, how can this apparatus be utilised to produce honey. Well, that’s up to the bee, which is amazingly designed to carry out this purpose. A bee’s body is hairy – just right for collecting pollen. It’s two hind legs contain tiny pollen baskets, and the two middle legs have stiff hairs that brush the pollen into these baskets. The bee community inside a hive is highly organised, each member having a specific role to play. The forager bee travels out of the hive to locate and bring back nectar, pollen and water. Getting a full load may mean visiting a thousand clover leaves. The bee drinks deeply of the nectar. It’s body then adds enzymes and formic acid to the mixture, which digests the nectar and changes it into sugars. Within the hive other bees take on the roles of cleaners, wax builders, guards and nurses for new-born bees.
Unique about the bee is the Queen. She is the baby making factory of the bee community. She can, in fact, produce up to 3000 eggs in a single day. And, although, the life span of a worker bee is just 5 to 6 weeks, the queen can live for several years.
The end result of the work of the bee community is honey which contains about 41 % fruit sugar. This makes it the sweetest sugar known to man. It also contains 35 % grape sugar, 17 % water, 2 % sucrose and small amounts of minerals and amino acids. Besides this, honey contains nearly all of the trace elements that the human body needs.
Honey truly is a marvellous food, lovingly prepared for us by that humble servant, the worker bee. So, the next time you spread some of that golden liquid energy on your toast, spare a thought for the hard working insect who made it possible.
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