Bee Honey

Honey is the most popular and well-known bee product. It is an excellent nutrient and is full of minerals, vitamins, amino acids and enzymes. Basically there are two types of honey in Bulgaria – floral nectar honey and honeydew. Floral nectar honey could be poliflora (many flowers) or monofloral (from mainly one flower). Bees produce honeydew by collecting sweet juices from the leaves of some trees. It has very intense taste and unique health benefits.

What is honey exactly?

Honey is a natural sweetener with true therapeutic qualities known for ancient times.
Its variable combination of components makes it a valuable addition to a diet menu or on everyday basis.
Bees produce floral honey by soaking sweet nectar from the flower blossom. Nectar is being chemically transformed into honey after a unique process of enzymatically breaking the complex sugars into glucose and fructose and evaporating the access water. Depending on the sources of nectar, honey can have a variable color, taste, aroma and chemical composition. For producing one kilogram of honey, bees collect and process around 3 kilograms of nectar and travel up to 140 000 kilometers.

The honeydew honey is produced when there is a lack of nectar sources. It has dark brown to black color and a very intense and strong taste. Bees don’t prefer it and it is not considered as a good food source for them but for us it is very healthy because of its high levels of minerals.

Interesting facts

  • It may sound amusing but even the monoflora honey contents nectar from more than one plant. We should keep in mind that to collect nectar enough for 1 kg honey, bees have to visit about 4 000 000 flowers so it is nearly impossible to have only one type of plant. The common rule is to have at least 20-40% nectar from one plant in order to produce a monoflora honey. The record holders of our farm are from the spring of 2012 – 86% acacia honey and from the summer of 2016 – 88% of linden.
  • There are a lot of evidences and amber fossils found showing us that bees have been living on Earth about 50 000 – 60 000 years before humans.
  • There are also a lot of different artefacts and ancient pottery with drawings and signs proving that honey and bee products have been an important food for the ancient world. Egypt, Rome, Greece, China, Mesopotamia, Assyria, Sumer – all ancient civilizations have discovered and used the health benefits and power of the bee products. Egyptians for example have started to domesticate bees for honey about 6 000 years ago.

Physico chemical parameters and action

Percentage (%) Average Average Minimum
Water 16,98 19,90 13,50
Monosaccharides 73,42 78,00 68,20
Polysaccharides 2,38 7,78 0,11
Nitric substances 0,55 1,73 0,21
Ashes 0,26 0,80 0,04
Acids 0,12 2,06 0,11

Minerals – iron, phosphoric, magnesium, calcium, copper, sulfur, potassium, cobalt, germanium etc.
Enzymes – invertase, diastase (α-amylase, β-amylase), catalase, phosphatase, dehydratase, oxidase, peroxidase, reductase, maltase and lipase.
Depending on the sources of nectars, honey can contain up to 17 amino acids – lysin, histidine, arginine, asparagine, threonine, serine, glutamine, proline, glycine, alanine, cysteine, valine, methionine, isoleucine, tyrosine and phenylalanine.
Vitamins – B1, B2, B3, B5, B6, H, K, C , E, PP, provitamin A

Bee honey – health benefits

  • Stimulating the immune system;
  • Antibacterial and anti-inflammatory effect;
  • Source of natural energy;
  • Fights stomach ulcers;
  • Effective cough suppressant;
  • Fights allergies;
  • Stimulates the heart and reduces high blood pressure;
  • Supports the nervous system and helps in cases of sleep disturbance;
  • Restores cells and tissues;
  • Good for liver diseases.

How to use

Bee honey is great for using on everyday basis. If you can replace sugar with honey, it will be perfect! Apitherapy recommends a daily amount of 1-2 grams per a kilogram of humans’ weight. For example an adult who weights 50 kilograms should eat about 50-100 grams of honey for a day.

It is from a great importance not to heat honey at more than 45 degrees Cesium.