What Can You Do With Honey?
Honey is a natural product made by honey bees. Yes, of course, you knew that. But I think some of the things you can do with honey that we have listed here may surprise you. Remember that we are talking about real natural honey from bees, which you can get from your local beekeeper. Not the flavoured sugar syrup that is increasingly proliferating worldwide.
The bees make honey by gathering nectar from the flowers in the area surrounding their colony, sometimes flying for miles to find a good source. Bees seem to enjoy flying so they often overlook nearby flowers in favour of ones further away.
This nectar is then brought back to the hive by the foragers and given to the house bees who then place it in the empty combs of the hive to let some of the water evaporate and let the enzymes do their job. The enzymes are added by the bees as they gather the nectar and pass it to each other in the hive. Given that bees also gather pollen this also makes its way into the honey but not in large amounts. However, these trace amounts are partly what gives the honey its distinctive flavour and possibly also add to the healing properties of honey.
Honey does contain a lot of sugars of various types because the nectar is so high in sugar and also contains pollen and other ingredients, each source of honey has its own flavour, some strong and some mild.
Honey is considered by many to be a healthy substitute for ordinary, processed white table sugar. You can add it to your tea and coffee and many other beverages and add it to your toast in the morning. There are many recipes available online for baking with honey and they are very tasty. This one is in the Farmers Journal for one, Honey Cake and this one in The Irish Examiner, Citrus & Honey Cake.
It is possible to substitute sugar with honey in many baking recipes. Go on give it a try, maybe in your next Banana Bread.
Long ago people did not have the wide range of medicines that we have today. They had to use what they had around them and quite often discovered some very effective treatments for many of the conditions that they were dealing with at that time. Of course, honey was one of these.
It made good eating and when applied externally helped to heal wounds on the battlefield.
Medical professionals are using Manuka Honey as medicine also and are seeing positive outcomes in treating patient wounds that have not responded to the usual treatments. Manuka Honey has been used to heal burns, throat and eye infections plus ulcers including both leg and peptic. Locally it has been claimed that Ivy Honey has similar properties to Manuka.
Honey is said to have anti-inflammatory and anti-bacterial properties that are very useful for treating acne. Not to mention that it also has hydrating and antioxidant properties that allow it to seal in moisture and rejuvenate and clean your skin.
Tribes Beekeepers Association makes no claims for the medicinal benefits of honey and recommends that you check with your qualified medical professional before you rely on it to cure any ailments. Some people are allergic to bees and don’t know it.
Also: NEVER GIVE HONEY TO BABIES.
