Subject: What exactly IS honey?

From: [email-masked] (Simeon Nevel)
Date: 23 May 1995 19:40:53 -0700

This may sound like the ULTIMATE of FAQs, but I really did chase down the 
beekeeping FAQ.....

My subject says it all.. Just what exactly is honey?

Is it some product excreted by the bees or something the bees collect?

Any answers would be greatly appreciated.

Simeon
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From: [email-masked] (Andy Nachbaur)
Date: Wed, 24 May 1995 16:47:00 GMT

S<>My subject says it all.. Just what exactly is honey?

S<>Is it some product excreted by the bees or something the bees collect?

Hello Simeon,

Honey is made by the bee's from nectar collected by them from the
flowers. The nectar is high in moisture when first collected and the
bee's reduce the nectar to Honey by evaporating the moisture. The bee's
bring the nectar to the hive in their honey bucket, and some enzymes
are naturally added to it.

The different flavor's of honey come from the different flowers the
bee's collect the nectar from. Orange Honey has the flavor and aroma
of the orange blossoms and is clear in color. Sweet Clover Honey is
also clear in color and has it's own flavor and aroma, sometimes the
flavor is almost cinnamon like. Wild Buckwheat honey is light amber
in color, and has a light musky aroma and a waxy flavor of old fashioned
Comb Honey.

  The color, aroma, and flavor of Honey varies from area to area and
most people develop a life long taste for the Honey they ate as
children. Most honey that is purchased at retail is a blend of several
mild flavored Honey's and for the real old fashioned honey you have to
find a beekeeper who will sell it fresh from the bee farm.

  All the beekeeper does to get the honey is remove it from the bee's,
leaving the bee's at the hive to make more honey. The honey comb is
sealed with a thin wax capping, the beekeeper removes this and extracts
the honey in a tank that spins the combs around speeding up the draining
process with out braking the honey comb that can be re-filled by the
bee's to store more honey in. He then may strain out any wax and let
the honey settle in a tank from which he will jar or can up the honey.
Some beekeepers heat the honey a little to speed up the process and if
the beekeeper is careful and uses a minimum of heat the honey will be
clean, clear, and a excellent addition to bread and food's of all
sorts.
                                ttul Andy-

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From: A. J. deLange <[email-masked]>
Date: 25 May 1995 12:03:38 GMT

In article <[email-masked]> Mark Dillow,
[email-masked] writes:
>I know that there are more learned folks than myself out there 
>that may be able to elaborate, but basically honey is that 
>substance that bees create from the nectar (normally) of 
>flowering plants.

That's 95% of the story. The plant nectar is essentially a
dilute soultion of sucrose in water, sucrose being the
familiar cane or beet sugar which is a disaccharide i.e.
each sucrose molecule consists of a glucose (dextrose,
corn sugar) molecule linked to a fructose (fruit sugar)
molecule. Glucose and fructose are monosaccharides i.e.
they contain a single hydrocarbon ring each. 

The "processing" done by the bees has 2 parts: inversion
and concentration. Inversion is breaking apart of the bond
that joins the glucose to the fructose. This is accelerated
by an enzyme (invertase) which is present in the bee's
saliva. Concentration is accomplished by moving air over
the cells in which the nectar is stored. This causes much of
the water to evaporate. Without checking in a book I think
the final water content is about 18%.

Thus honey is a concetrated soultion of invert sugar i.e.
a solution of fructose and glucose. There are, of course,
small amounts of lots of other substances which give
the honey its distinctive flavor, color and aroma. 

AJ
[email-masked]

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From: Mark Dillow <[email-masked]>
Date: 24 May 1995 14:11:43 GMT

This transformation from nectar to honey is brought about by 
the addition of enzymes by the bees, and then the evaporation 
of much of the water content. This evaporation 
(or curing) of the honey is accomplished after the nectar is 
deposited in a cell of the comb. 

Mark