Honey is undoubtedly one of everybodys favorite breakfast companions. It goes especially well with pancakes, milk and even wheat bread. It is a healthier alternative to table sugar, and has been known to cure certain ailments such as sore throats and some allergies.
Honey is a sweet, dense and flavorful food. Its taste and color can vary depending on what the bees that produced it are eating. Most grocers and supermarkets sell honey, since it is a very popular food around the world.
Raw honey is collected by beekeepers from apiaries. Honeybees collect the nectar from flowers. When they return to the hive, the bees convert the nectar into honey. It is then stored in waxy combs which are designed to keep it stable until it is needed.
Bees go to great distances before being able to produce honey. Worker bees can visit up to 1500 flowers in order to acquire enough nectar to bring back to the hive. The nectar is passed on to worker bees, which use enzymes to break down the complex sugars in nectar and turn them into simple sugars. It is then spread throughout the honeycombs, where water evaporates from it and turns the nectar into thick syrup. After it is collected, it can then be sold as
honey in a jar shaped traditionally like a bear.
Bees use honey as an alternative food source whenever they have difficulty finding other food. History has shown that humans have also been consuming honey as food for thousands of years. For a time, honey was the primary sweetener before the development of conventional table sugar. Today, honey can be bought in different forms, from pure raw honey, to honey sticks, to even
flavored creamed honey.
Creamed honey is what is most commonly sold in supermarkets because of its smooth spreadable consistency. Compared to unprocessed honey, creamed honey is smoother and easier to spread.
Flavored creamed honey is made by adding flavoring oils freeze-dried powdered fruits to raw honey. It also contains a large number of small crystals in the honey, which prevent the formation of larger crystals that can occur in unprocessed honey.
