It is known in almost every culture. Even primitive tribes had their honey gatherers who risked their lives raiding wild bee nests to ensure a sweet and healthy life for other tribe members. Honey has been known for its healing properties for millennia. It was worshipped and often offered as sacrifices or placed in graves as gifts for the gods. Its rarity is emphasized by the fact that until the end of the 19th century, honey was the only non-imported sweetener in Europe.
Honey – sticky, slowly flowing, precious sweet medicine. Precious because it is a product of insects, mainly bees, and cannot be artificially produced. Simply, if we want honey, we must rely on bees.
Honey has suitable chemical properties for baking and is a suitable sugar substitute. Thanks to its high content of natural sugars and low water percentage, it does not spoil if stored properly, that is, at a temperature of 10–17°C, in a dark place.
The basic material for honey production is sweet juices such as flower nectar or tree honeydew. Bees and other insects collect, modify, and thicken these in their digestive systems, enriching the honey with substances from their own bodies. They then store it in combs, cap them, and let the honey mature inside.
Thanks to this natural specific production process, honey is a unique superfood. Its main positive effects on our body include anti-inflammatory and antibacterial properties.
Therefore
• it helps treat viral diseases,
• colds,
• inflammations of the oral cavity, canker sores.
Additionally, thanks to antioxidants,
• it acts preventively against colon cancer,
• supports digestion,
• detoxifies the body.
It helps with
• stomach ulcers,
• inflammation of the stomach, duodenum, and colon,
• constipation, diarrhea,
• liver diseases,
• gallbladder,
• migraine relief,
• heart and sleep problems.
It also has very good properties for external use:
• heals burns and wounds,
• honey massage is strongly detoxifying and revitalizing,
• softens chapped lips,
• acts disinfectingly and accelerates healing,
• cleanses the skin, for example in acne, and is part of many skin and hair treatments.
Beekeepers and shops may use various names for honey. To better understand them, it is good to know that:
Flower honey – honey from flower nectars. For example, the most significant and lightest is acacia honey. Also sunflower, rapeseed, and linden honey. Basically, these are light honeys.
Honeydew honey, also known as forest honey – collected by bees from plants and trees of forests and meadows. Most often from coniferous trees like spruce and fir, but also oak, beech, birch. Forest honey is recognized by its dark color and forest aroma.
Mixed honey – has the advantages of both flower and forest honey. Its color can range from light to dark brown.
According to processing methods, honey is further classified as:
Extracted – the most commonly obtained honey. Combs are placed in a honey extractor, and honey is spun directly into containers by centrifugal force.
Pressed – honey is pressed from cut combs.
Creamed – creaming honey is a relatively young processing method where crystals are broken at the start of solidification, and the honey retains a paste-like consistency. Such honey does not flow, does not harden, and keeps an excellent smooth taste.
Comb honey – honey is consumed with the comb, or pieces of comb are placed in jars and covered with honey.
According to plant types, honey is known as:
Acacia – quite rare because acacia blooms briefly and often during cold days when bees do not fly. It is the lightest honey with a high fructose content, which keeps it liquid for up to 2 years. It is also called the sweetest honey. Among flower honeys, it contains the least pollen grains. Regular consumption lowers blood pressure.
Linden – overall the best honey. It has a light yellow to greenish color, is clear, and has a delicious linden flower taste. It crystallizes slowly. It acts against colds in bad weather, fevers, has anti-inflammatory effects, and helps treat acute and chronic inflammations of the upper respiratory tract, bronchial asthma, throat inflammations, nasal cavities, bronchi, angina, supports coughing up phlegm and sweating.
Meadow – the diversity of plants in meadows guarantees many health-beneficial substances in meadow honeys, especially from areas rich in medicinal herbs. Its color can range from light yellow to dark red and often contains some honeydew. It has a delicious, mild taste and a penetrating natural aroma. It is suitable for preventing pollen allergies. Even allergy sufferers are advised to consume small amounts daily for several weeks before pollen season to alleviate allergy symptoms.
Honeydew – you might be surprised, but honeydew is produced by sucking insects like aphids that excrete sugars while feeding on plant sap. The honey is darker due to plant pigments in the sap. It contains many minerals and trace elements, dextrins, and more fructose than other honeys. Compared to flower honeys, it is harder to digest and has a high mineral content. High consumption is not recommended. It is well used externally for various injuries and hard-to-heal wounds.
Buckwheat – very suitable as a nutritional supplement for pregnant and breastfeeding women. It contains a large amount of natural rutin, also known as vitamin P. Its best-known properties include strengthening blood vessel walls and reducing bleeding of peripheral capillaries, especially in colon problems and hemorrhoids.
Rapeseed – the first spring honey mainly from rapeseed but also from fruit tree honey. The clear liquid honey can crystallize within a week, so it is often used to make creamed honey. Thanks to its higher simple sugar content, it is easily digestible and uniquely contains the alkaloid basilicin, which has anti-cancer effects.
Sunflower – with a high glucose content, which causes two layers and large crystals during production. This honey with a sweet-sour taste has a high selenium content, which helps maintain a healthy vascular system.
Therefore, we recommend finding an honest beekeeper nearby and stocking up on various types of honey.
