Honey: composition, benefits and how it is produced

oney is a truly surprising substance, its uses are vast and its beneficial properties greatly affect human health. It is an absolutely natural compound, produced by bees as a food reserve for the colder seasons. But how do bees make honey ? Let's find out together.

What is honey made of?

Honey is the result of a long and tiring process by bees. natural honey is produced by the transformation of some natural substances that serve to nourish the swarm . Through this process, the bees allow the nectar to be preserved for a long time without creating mold. These insects have a mouth made up of a kind of tube. Any food must therefore have a liquid form. Otherwise the bees transform the substances into a liquid state, mixing them with their own secretion.

The bees in fact transform the secretions of the flowers (nectar) and the secretions produced by themselves until the mixture is obtained. After its production, it is stored in the cells of the honeycombs and then inside the hive or in the hives depending on whether the bees are in the wild or in beekeeping.

How do bees make honey?

In a hive, each individual contributes to the functioning of the entire survival mechanism in a very organized way. As for the honey production , the bees go through various very well-structured stages to then obtain sufficient reserves and survive. Yes, because honey is nothing more than a food supply for our beloved bees.

First, the explorer bees move from the hive over long distances in flight until they have reached a suitable food supply to stock up on pollen and nectar. After various patrolling movements, the explorers return to the hive and communicate to the rest of the swarm in which direction to go for the supply of raw material. Once the information regarding the food source has been learned, it will be up to the foraging bees to go there and start collecting as much pollen and nectar as possible and then transport it to the hive. In this case, the task is assigned to the older bees who will perform a risky job flying from flower to flower under the eyes of many predators.

Once back in the hive with the food supplies, the bees will start processing the substances until they get honey. After mixing the nectar with some substances produced by themselves, other bees will move the substance into the cells. But of course, the work doesn't end there. It is precisely at this moment that the bees are working to set in motion the most important process for the creation of honey, namely ventilation.

What is ventilation

During the ventilation phase, the bees move their wings intensely, increasing the temperature of the hive and causing part of the water to evaporate. The syrup therefore becomes denser, sweeter and better preservable over time, because, thanks to the low concentration of water, the high presence of sugars and the particular substances added by bees, it becomes a food in which neither bacteria nor molds thrive. , nor yeasts.

How much honey does the beekeeper collect

The work of the beekeeper is very patient. A good breeder works in symbiosis with his bees and takes from them only the amount necessary for his profit while still allowing the bees to have enough food supplies to survive without any effort. Taking too much honey from bees would be counterproductive for the animals and for the beekeeper himself as, without a good supply of honey available, the bees would not survive and even the farmer would face a loss.

Types of honey

Honey is a sugary product manufactured by the honey bee, that is, the bee that collects nectar and re-processes it. There are so many types of honey on the market. The various types vary in color and flavor but it is also possible to notice a different type of crystallization .

It should be noted that honey is not extracted only from the flowers but also from the leaves and herbaceous stems of some types of plants. We can therefore make a first distinction between honey from flowers, honey from branches and trunks, and honey from leaves and twigs. However, only the first of these can be considered real honey.

Nutritional values ​​and health benefits

A teaspoon of honey contains approximately 15 Kcal. It is a beneficial food for our body but like any substance containing sugars, moderate consumption is recommended ranging from 50 grams up to a maximum of 100 grams in a day. Inside we find sugars 66-83% glucose, fructose, sucrose oligosaccharides, water 13-20% and a small part of proteins. Honey is an antibacterial food and an antibiotic ally of the immune system , widely used not only for natural health but also in cosmetics. Honey is an excellent decongestant and calming agent for the respiratory tract, performs cardiopathic functions and is an excellent detoxifier for the liver. It is a truly beneficial food for our body and it is completely natural!

Online wholesale of honey

Would you like quality honey but you don't know who to buy from? Choose Apicoltura Laterza! We are leaders in the online sale of wholesale honey of the highest quality. We want to offer the best of our products, strictly Made in Italy. Do you want to buy? Discover all our products on: www.apicolturalaterza.it