If you really sit down and think about what honey is - bee barf - you probably wouldn't eat it. However, like most other animal products we consume, we put the production process in the back of our minds and eat up.
According to Wikipedia, bees use their "honey stomachs" to ingest and regurgitate the nectar a number of times until it is partially digested until the product reaches a desired quality. It is stored in honeycomb cells. The bees in the hive fan their wings, creating a draft across the honeycomb, which speeds water evaporation from the nectar and prevent fermentation. This reduction in water raises the sugar concentration and prevents fermentation. Ripe honey has a long shelf life and will not ferment if properly sealed.
How long of a shelf life? I've always thought that honey had no expiration date because of information like that from Benefits-of-Honey.com, which states that honey never goes bad because bacteria can't grow in the highly acidic environment. However, honey has to be stored in a well-sealed, non-metal container that maintains a constant temperature to avoid spoilage.
I've also always wondered why babies and pregnant ladies can't eat honey and it's because the endospores from the bacterium Clostridium botulinum can produce toxins. Now, I know.
My favorite kind of honey is raw honey, which is said to be more nutritious than processed honey. The health benefits of raw honey include:
- Counteracting acid indigestion
- Relieving nausea and restoring energy, when mixed with lemon or ginger
- Containing high levels of antioxidants
My favorite drink when I'm sick, especially with a sore throat, is hot lemonade tea - hot water, juice from a lemon, and a big heaping spoonful of raw honey.
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