- Honey is a sweet, sticky, thick liquid food substance that is made by bees from the nectar of flowers. Bees drink the nectar and take it back to their hive where the nectar is stored within a cell, in a grid-like structure called a honeycomb. Over time, the nectar ripens to become sweet honey.
- Worker bees have a pouch in their body that is called a honey stomach. When bees sip the nectar from flowers it is stored in the honey stomach. While in the stomach, the nectar breaks down into two simple sugars, glucose and fructose. When the bees return to the hive, they deposit this nectar. While depositing the nectar in the hive, much of the water has evaporated, making the liquid thicker and the bees add an enzyme which enhances the flavor.
- Honey can vary in flavor, depending on the type of flower from which the nectar was initially obtained. The color of honey can also vary, from a light caramel shade to dark amber. Milder tasting honey tends to be a lighter shade. Alfalfa, sweet clover, white clover and alsike clover are common honey plants. California honey is often made from orange blossom or white sage.
- Honey is a sugar and energy food. It can be used to sweeten other foods, and in baking recipes, in much the same way as cane sugar. Of all the sugar foods, it is the only form that does not need to be refined. Honey contains mineral salts, a beneficial element for the body.
- Children under the age of 12 months should not be fed honey. Honey is a source of bacterial spores that are capable of producing Clostridium botulinum bacteria. When an infant consumes honey, a toxin can form that causes infant botulism and can result in death. This illness affects the child's nervous system. Other foods that pose a similar threat to infants include corn syrup and low-acid home-canned foods.
- Originally, honey was sold by the cells of the honeycomb. These were the little waxy cells that held the developing nectar as it transformed into ripe honey. Today, suppliers remove the honey from the honeycomb and bottle it for distribution. Back in 1989, about 200 million pounds of honey was produced in the United States each year. Since that time the industry has been plagued with a declining bee population and the infiltration of the African Killer bee, which has been moving into American beehives. In 2007, the U.S. produced 148 million pounds of honey.
- Honey is a not without controversy. Some self-proclaimed nutritionists claim it is a healthy alternative to refined sugar, while other organizations, such as the American Dietetic Association, claim the nutrient content of sugar and honey is the same. One unproven theory suggests that if a person consumes honey that was made from plants they are allergic to, that person will develop a tolerance to that plant's allergens. Like any product that is distributed commercially, it is subject to concerns of improper handling and unwelcomed additives.
