We all love having honey in different ways. From morning drinks to smoothies, honey adds deliciousness to any recipe. Honey is derived from the bees, and is loaded with antioxidants, and is high in minerals. It acts as a natural sweetener and is an ideal substitute for refined white sugar. Filled with numerous nutrients and vitamins, it is one of the healthiest things to include in our diet.
But are you aware of some fun facts regarding the honey that you consume? Despite the popularity of honey worldwide, there are some cool facts that we might not know. These interesting facts will provide you with a lot of honey information and add to your knowledge.
If you are an ardent lover of honey, you must be aware of these fun facts. These facts will help you get more interesting details about this natural sweetener. Here we have covered 17 fascinating honey facts that you must check out.
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17 Interesting Facts About Honey You Didn’t Know
If you did not know these interesting facts about honey, you are missing something. These fun facts about honey will take you by surprise and provide valuable honey information. We have covered below 17 facts that every honey lover should know. Let us see each one of these in detail!
1.Shelf Life
Honey is one of those food items that have a long shelf life. It never gets spoiled if placed in an airtight container. Also, you don’t need to refrigerate honey to keep it fresh. Honey contains small amounts of hydrogen peroxide that helps in preventing the growth of microorganisms.
2. Medicinal Properties
Honey is well-known for its medicinal purposes. It contains anti-bacterial and anti-inflammatory properties that help treat various diseases, including burns, cuts, and other infections.
3. Beehive Produces Large Quantity Of Honey
A typical beehive produces a vast quantity of honey in a single year. It makes around 30 to 100 pounds of honey every year. To get this quantity, the beehive must collect nectar from two million flowers. They are required to travel 55,000 miles to get the job done.
4. All Bees Do Not Produce Honey
It is a fun fact to know that among the various species of bees not all produce honey. With around 20,000 species of bees, there are only seven known honey bee species. One such species is known as Apis Mellifera in the U.S.
5. All Honey Is Not Made By Bees
We usually associate the production of honey with bees. However, not all of the honey comes from bees. The Mexican honey wasp is also responsible for producing honey on a large scale. However, you need to be aware since, at times, this honey can be poisonous.
6. The Nectar Determines The Color Of Honey
The nectar plays a crucial role that helps determine the color of honey produced. The color and the consistency are widely a result of the nectar through which it gets released.
7. Honey Is A Natural Soother
Honey acts as a natural soother apart from being known for its medicinal properties. It is popularly used as a key ingredient in several home remedies. It is known for soothing sore throat and coughs and works well in personal care products as well.
8. Bees Perform A Small Dance
The bees dance after returning to the hive with the collection of the pollen. They dance to signal the beehive about the location of all the good flowers. The collected nectar is converted into honey with the addition of enzymes.
9. The Long History Of Honey
The production of honey dates back millions of years. Bees started making honey with the help of one fossilized honeycomb found many years ago.
10. Used For Making Mead
The honey that gets fermented is used in the production of mead. Mead is an alcoholic beverage that tends to have a strong taste. Honey and water get fermented by yeast to produce this delicious beverage.
11. Bees Collect Honey For Winter Survival
Bees manage to survive throughout the winter season by gathering close to the queen to gain warmth. They work hard around the summer season to ensure enough honey to get through the winter days.
12. Individual Bee Gives Small Quantity Of Honey
A single honey bee can produce only 1/12 teaspoon of honey during her entire lifetime. That seems to be a relatively small quantity produced.
13. Ideal For Human Consumption
Honey bees are the only insects that produce something edible that is ideal for human consumption. Honey is the only food that stays good for years and years.
14. Comes In Different Flavors
The honey produced in various countries comes in different flavors and colors. Several factors influence how the honey gets produced. These factors include the location, type of flowers, and climatic conditions.
15. Only Food Source For Bees
For the survival of bees, honey tends to be the only food source. It is the main reason why honey bees tend to be extremely busy gathering nectar from flowers. They work hard towards building up the quantity of honey so that they do not face any shortage of honey during peak seasons.
16. Contains All Substances To Sustain
Honey is the only food item that is known to contain all the necessary substances required for humans to sustain life. It has all the enzymes, vitamins, minerals and water required by humans.
17. Good For Dental Care
The raw, unprocessed form of honey provides protection and care to the tooth against the occurrence of tooth decay. It helps in combating the infections of the gum and might help in reducing the swelling. Moreover, it also reduces the amount of acid created by bacteria.
Conclusion
The above is a list of interesting facts about honey that might have left you surprised. It will add to your knowledge and provide more information regarding this natural sweetener. We hope you enjoyed reading through the article.
Do let us know in the comments below about the number of facts you were aware of. Also, let us know if you know a new fact that we might have missed.