Natural Wonders of Honey

Beautiful, golden, thick, gooey honey, the nectar of the gods – few can resist this remarkable food made by the even more remarkable honeybee.

Honeybees flitting from flower to flower signal the beginning of spring.

Honey is produced by honeybees from the nectar of plants in one of the world’s most efficient facilities, the beehive.

To make just one pound of honey, some 60 000 bees, all female, must collectively travel 55 000 miles and visit over 2 million flowers, to gather enough nectar.

The design of the honeycomb, coupled with the air movement caused by the constant fanning by the wings if the the bees, causes evaporation to take place, creating the thick, golden liquid we call honey.

Natural Benefits

Honey we know is a sweetener and imparts a unique flavor to any dish by balancing and enhancing the flavor profiles of other ingredients used in the recipe.

Honey will act as a binder and thickener for sauces, marinades, and dips. Honey provides and retains moisture in a variety of dishes and can extend the shelf life of baked goods.

Honey should never be cooked or anything cooked with honey as it changes its structure and loses all its goodness.

Note: Honey is not recommended for infants under 18 months, nor the elderly or those with compromised immune systems.

Honey includes all the substances necessary to sustain life, including enzymes, vitamins, minerals and water – it’s the only food that contains 'pinocembrin' an antioxidant associated with improved brain functioning.

Honey is a source of carbohydrate providing 17 grams per tablespoon and, therefore, an excelled athletic aid. For hydration and energy, add honey to your bottle of water during your next workout.

Try my favourite, peanut Butter and honey whole wheat sandwiches are a great high-energy snack providing a good combination of carbohydrates, protein and fat.

Try my favourite, honey and cream cheese as a dip for fresh fruits or vegetables.

Many manufacturers use honey in their products, however, it's just the beginning, as there is so much you can do yourself.

Honey is a humectant which means it attracts and retains moisture so you can add it to your moisturizer, shampoo, creams or soap at home. It also has anti-microbial properties.

Dry Skin

A dessertspoon of honey mixed with a teaspoon of extra virgin olive oil and a squeeze of fresh lemon juice (a natural skin brightener). Apply to dry areas and leave for 20-25 minutes. Wipe off with a warm washcloth.

Moisturizing honey masks

Pull you hair back from your face before using the following:

1. Scoop a generous amount of honey into your hands and spread all over your face and neck. Rub it into your skin and leave for 10 – 30 minutes. Rinse with warm water.

2. Combine 1-tablespoon buttermilk, 1-teaspoon honey, and 1 egg yolk. Apply gently to clean skin and leave to work its magic for 20 minutes. Rinse with warm water.

Honey Exfoliant:

To soften and clarify your skin, use this scrub once a week. Mix 2 parts honey with 1 part baking soda, or bicarb and rub gently, in a circular motion, into your face. This is also good as a body scrub.

Cleopatra’s bath:

Have a slave combine ¼ cup honey with 2 cups milk and few drops of your favourite essential oil, such as lavender, and add to a hot bath, sit back and relax.

There are many more healing uses in ayurvedic medicine, which dates back almost 4000 years, than the few mentioned below.

Natural honey blended with herbs enhances the medicinal value. Honey is wonderful in its natural state, however ensure the container states raw, unpasteurized, natural.

Obesity, high blood pressure, high cholesterol:

Stir one teaspoon of honey into 1 cup of warm water and 5 – 10 drops apple cider vinegar in the morning on an empty stomach.

Oral Ulcers, canker sores:

1-teaspoon honey and a pinch of turmeric. This generates saliva, which you should spit out to speed the healing process.

Internal Ulcers:

Drink 1 Cup of warm milk with a teaspoon of honey, twice daily.

Common Cold:

Mix ½ teaspoon cinnamon with 1 teaspoon honey and eat 2 – 3 times daily.

Sinusitis:

1 teaspoon each of fresh ginger juice and honey two or three times daily.

Anxiety:

Mix together 1 cup of fresh orange juice with 1 teaspoon of honey and a pinch of nutmeg powder – drink twice daily.

Acne:

Raw Honey applied directly to your skin and left on for 30 minutes will over time clear your acne if it's caused by bacterial infections.

Cough Suppressant:

Take one teaspoon of honey as often as necessary.

Cough Soother Recipe:

3 green tea bags

1 cinnamon stick

3 cups boiling water

Steep the above together in a jug for about 3-5 minutes, after removing tea bags, stir in:

¼ cup honey

1-cup fresh grapefruit juice

Makes about 4 servings that you can drink throughout the day.

There are thousands of workers bees, a few hundred drones and one queen bee. All worker bees are female and assigned different tasks – nurses to take care of larva, construction workers to bond together the wax cells of a honeycomb, janitors to keep the hive clean, guards to protect the hive and food finders and gatherers.

The male bees or drones have no sting and don’t produce honey. Their one purpose is to mate with the Queen.

Intercourse takes place in mid-air and as a successful drone grasps the queen, and the tip of his penis is ripped off his body and left behind in the queen’s reproductive tract. The drone thereafter quickly dies. The queen mates with about a dozen drones in one flight and normally will have enough sperm to fertilize all the eggs for the rest of her life.

(According to The Biology of the Honey Bee. Harvard University Press. p.41)

A new bio-engineered product Surgihoney has been tested on babies, new mothers, cancer patients and the elderly since 2012 in Hampshire hospitals in the U.K., reports the Mail Online.

Wounds and ulcers, including those infected with the superbug MRSA healed within days and the number of women suffering infections after a Caesarian has halved.

Surgihoney also healed wounds on soldiers returning from Afghanistan, used to treat acne and protect the skin of cancer patients fitted with a catheter for chemotherapy.

Active Manuka Honey is highly effective in the treatment of burns and chronic wounds, bedsores etc., however, it is most important that you do not use the ordinary heated, everyday commercialised honey you buy off the shelf in stores.