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Honey is a mixture of sugars and other compounds. With respect
to carbohydrates, honey is mainly fructose (about 38.5%) and
glucose (about 31.0%), making it similar to the synthetically
produced inverted sugar syrup which is approximately 48% fructose,
47% glucose, and 5% sucrose. Honey's remaining carbohydrates
include maltose, sucrose, and other complex carbohydrates.
Honey contains trace amounts of several vitamins and minerals.
As with all nutritive sweeteners, honey is mostly sugars and
is not a significant source of vitamins or minerals. Honey also
contains tiny amounts of several compounds thought to function
as antioxidants, including chrysin, pinobanksin, vitamin C,
catalase, and pinocembrin. The specific composition of any batch
of honey will depend largely on the mix of flowers available to
the bees that produced the honey. Typical honey analysis: Fructose: 38.5% Glucose: 31.0% Sucrose: 1.0% Water: 17.0% Other sugars: 9.0% (maltose, melezitose) Ash: 0.17% Other: 3.38% Honey has a density of about 1.36 kilograms per liter (36% denser than water). The best honey is in the uncut honey combs. After being pumped out from there it is very vulnerable, and the main losses of quality take place during preservation and distribution. Heating up to 37°C causes loss of nearly 200 components, part of which are antibacterial. Heating up to 40°C destroys the invertase—the main bee enzyme, thanks to which the nectar becomes honey; heating up to 50°C turns the honey into caramel (the most valuable honey sugars become analogous to synthetic sugar). Generally any larger temperature fluctuation (10°C is ideal for preservation of ripe honey) causes decay. Why my honey is even better than organic honey 1. Today is very difficult to find natural real honey, because almost all beekeepers, and especially those in the commercial sector, do not apply natural beekeeping techniques that were used in the past, which has led to a large-scale weakening of bee colonies. For example, almost all beekeepers now use immense amounts of chemicals to fight mites and other diseases. In addition, they feed their colonies with syrups and other supplements. My bee colonies are healthy because they are mite resistant Russian bees and I have been practicing only natural beekeeping. 2. Most honeys found in the supermarket are not raw or organic honey but “commercial" honey, which has been heated and filtered so that it looks cleaner and smoother, more appealing on the shelf, and easier to handle and package. Only truly raw state honey that has never been processed will crystallize with intensity and has full beneficial properties nature intended. When honey is heated, its delicate aromas, yeast and enzymes which are responsible for activating vitamins and minerals in the body system are partially destroyed. Hence, such honey is not as nutritious as raw honey. I prefer to call such liquid product a “honey syrup”. 3. In order for honey to be certified organic, the apiary must be placed in isolated areas miles from the dense population, industry, traffic congestion, and farm fields treated with chemicals and landfills. My bee yard is located in a watershed zone, controlled by DEP (Department of Environmental Protection). Therefore, there are many restrictions not only for the farmers, but also for all homeowners. In addition, thousands of acres of forest have been preserved as state land. 4. Organic Honey is expensive honey. The price range is from $8 to $15 per pound, plus shipping cost. Nevertheless, many producers of Organic honey feed they bees with organic sugar, because the National Organic Standards allows doing this. But even organic sugar is not natural food for the bees; therefore for the spring and autumn feeding I use only natural honey and pollen (beebread). I would like to especially mention my "Paste honey", which has been extracted in the Spring after it stayed in honeycombs the whole winter. After extracting this honey in the Spring, the crystals that have already formed are filtered out during the usual filtration process. This type of honey crystallizes quickly, but without large crystals. It looks like a smooth paste without any noticeable crystals and becomes spreadable. Visually, this type of honey looks very similar to creamed honey, which you can buy in stores, but creamed honey is generally warmed up to 140 degrees Fahrenheit in order to make the crystals smaller. My honey turns into a spreadable paste naturally, without any thermal processing. More details are coming soon! |
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I prefer to use only glass jars because I think that a high-quality product should be placed into fine containers. |
States expand efforts to combat 'funny honey'
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