Be Happy and Healthy with Honey
HONEYBEES
In Northeast Ohio, bees begin their honeying in springtime. Beekeepers take their first honey extraction around the end of June and periodically through the summertime with the final extraction usually occurring around Labor Day.
Three types of bees live in a hive. The single, sexually mature queen bee is the mother of the bees in the hive. A seasonally variable number of male drone bees fertilize the queen. About 20,000 to 40,000 female worker bees raise larvae and collect nectar.
In October the drones (male bees) are kicked out of the hive and the workers (female bees) and the queen stay in the hive in a little cluster. They take turns eating the honey they have stored, sleeping and flapping their wings to generate heat. They maintain a temperature of approximately 93 degrees in their little cluster all the time.
Bees collect nectar from flowering plants and take it back to the hive where they ingest and regurgitate it to process it. Once it is partially digested they store it in a honeycomb to use as a year-round food source.
Secreted from glands, beeswax is used by the honeybee to build a honeycomb. It is used by humans in drugs, cosmetics, artists' materials, furniture polish and candles.
Collected by honeybees from trees, propolis is a sticky resin from trees. Bees mix it with wax to create a glue for repairing cracks in the hive.
Royal jelly is a powerful, milky substance that turns an ordinary bee into a queen bee. It is made of digested pollen and honey or nectar mixed with a chemical secreted from a gland in a nursing bee's head. This expensive product is used by some as a dietary supplement and fertility stimulant. It is loaded with all of the B vitamins.
HONEY
Unlike refined sugar, which contains only sucrose, honey has both sucrose and fructose.
Honey contains antioxidants. Eating some daily helps protect your body from cancer-causing free radicals.
Honey can be used as a complementary option for treating a variety of ailments. For a sore throat, take it on its own or gargle with a mixture of two tablespoons of set honey, four tablespoons of cider vinegar and a pinch of salt. Sipping on hot water, lemon juice and honey helps to soothe cold and flu symptoms. To ease congestion, add a little eucalyptus oil or root ginger. To help enhance sleep, try a drop of whiskey in the mixture.*
Honey can be used on cuts, scrapes and minor burns because it is a mild antiseptic. It absorbs moisture around external wounds and helps prevent the growth of bacteria.*
Honey is believed to help with both constipation and diarrhea because it helps destroy certain bacteria in the gut.*
Eating local honey can help with seasonal allergies.*
When cooking, replace sugar with honey. It is sweeter, so less can be used. Plus, it keeps baked goods, such as cakes, moist.
Honey's high-sugar content prevents it from fermenting. Therefore, it is not necessary to refrigerate it.
Over time, a jar of honey will crystallize, especially if the honey is kept at low temperatures. This does not mean the honey is bad; it simply needs to be liquefied. To do so, place a closed jar of honey in a hot water bath for a half hour, shaking it every 10 minutes.
Raw honey has not been pasteurized, meaning it retains nature's gifts of vitamins, minerals, anti- oxidants and flavonoids.
*Informational only. Please consult your physician.
Information collected with the assistance of Lucy Wellhausen, owner of Ohio Honey. She and her husband Charlie have been active beekeepers since 1997. They have beehives throughout Lake, Geauga and Ashtabula counties. For more information or to contact Lucy, call (440) 749-9284 or visit www.OhioHoney.com.
