Bees and Honey

Many will be surprised to learn that so far experts have identified over 10,000 varieties of bees and among all of them only one genus produces honey. It has been found that the honey bees are a sort of social pests that live in settlements, each of which may comprise up to 80,000 bees. And each bee in a colony lives with an objective of its own.

Although the worker honey bees strive a lot to provide food, water and nectar to the bees in the hive, it is said that the achievement or prosperity of a hive largely depends on the queen bee. It still remains a mystery to man as to why the worker honey bees only select a few larvae and develop them into queen bees. The larvae selected to develop as queen bees are kept in special cells in the hive and fed with special food - the royal jelly. Normally, the queen bee comes out of her special cell only after 16 days of laying the egg.

The queen bee usually feeds on honey to gain potency and become strong. In the event of having multiple queen bees in one colony, the rival queen bees fight amongst themselves till death leaving one to rule the nest. In such a situation, one of the queen bees may even leave the colony with a swarm of worker honey bees to set up a new colony. Having established her supremacy in the nest, the new queen bee will then fly outside the hive and mate with one or many drones or male honey bees. It has been found, that only one mating with a drone enables the queen bee to lay eggs for the remaining part of her life. Normally, a queen bee can lay as many as 2,000 eggs daily and altogether around 1,000,000 during her entire life span.

It may be mentioned here that drones or male honey bees that grow from unfertilized eggs. As the word ‘drone’ denotes, the male honey bees are lazy and do not perform any work. In addition, the drones do not possess any sting and their sole function is to mate with the queen bees. When the flowering season comes to an end in autumn and there is no supply of honey, the requirement of the drone honey bees too comes to an end. When the season for laying eggs is over, the worker honey bees make the drones starve to death by not providing them with any food or water. One reason for killing the drones such mercilessly is that if they are allowed to survive through the winter, these drones will feed on the stored honey and finish the reserves.

HONEY AND HEALTH

As mentioned earlier, honey encloses several nutrients and is said to be one of the best nourishing substances ever produced by nature. Hence, the health benefits of honey are varied and many. Basically, the use of honey is widespread since time unknown for its anti-bacterial and anti-fungal properties. In addition to this, honey has many other health benefits and they are mentioned below.

• Honey possesses superb qualities that are useful in curing injuries. Among other things, honey has the ability to healburns, injuries and ulcers. Moreover, it is often used as an antibacterial healing means.
• Honey has been found to be immensely beneficial for athletes as it can enhance their performance owing to the presence of ergogenic aids in this natural substance.
• Honey also helps in maintaining the purity of blood by counteracting the harmful free radicals in our system.
• Honey is especially beneficial as a substitute for sugar for people suffering from type 2 diabetes and having high cholesterol levels in their blood.
• In addition, honey helps in alleviating blockage of the nasal openings, offers respite from cough and aids in the absorption of ingested food in the alimentary canal and cures conjunctivitis. When honey is taken along with a mug of hot milk, it also helps in inducing sleep.
• Researches have demonstrated that honey is useful in alleviating the body tissues and also aids in preserving calcium in the body.
• Honey is also an effective medication to avoid anemia. In fact, honey is known to work against anemia.
• Regular intake of honey also helps to invigorate the immune system in our body.

HONEY AS A BEAUTY HELPER

Applying honey on your body not only helps to make your skin shine, but also improves the blood circulation. Before taking a shower, rub some honey on your skin and keep patting it until the honey becomes muggy. Then wash off the honey while showering and see the pleasant change. Bathing your hair with a blend of honey and lime helps to bring back the shine to your hair and keeps it healthy. Similarly, your skin will become radiant if you mix one-fourth teaspoon of honey in your bath regularly.
A paste made of honey along with crushed almonds and oatmeal functions as an excellent face cleanser. Apply this paste on your face and keep it for around 20 to 30 minutes and you will find your face glowing. This is primarily because the paste acts as scrub and peels off the dead skin cells, while toning the facial muscles. On the other hand, if you prepare a paste mixing appleand honey and apply it on your face for about 15 minutes, it will act as an excellent moisturizer. Applying this natural moisturizer regularly will help to keep your facial skin supple as well as compact.
Honey can also be used to prepare a facial mask. To prepare this facial mask blend two teaspoon of honey with two teaspoon of milk and apply it on your face. Leave the facial pack undisturbed for about 10 minutes and then wash it off with cold water. You will now be amazed to see how your facial skin radiates. It has been found that applying honey on dry skin acts as an effective lotion. Blend one-fourth teaspoon of lemon with one teaspoon of any vegetable oil and one teaspoon of honey and apply it on your skin. Leave the lotion for 10 minutes and then wash it away with cold water. Now, see the effect. Your skin has become soft and supple with no sign of dryness.
Here, it is important to remember that the above mentioned processes need to be followed regularly with a view to get the best results.

PREPARING SEASONED DESERTS AND FRUITS WITH HONEY

It has been a common practice to use honey to add essence or tang to desserts and several fruits. The tartness contained in honey enables the fruits to preserve their natural hue. However, when adding honey to fruits it is essential to bear in mind that you use a gentle quality of honey, or else the honey will overshadow the essence or taste of the fruits. Honey also helps to preserve fruits for a longer time enabling you to enjoy them when they are not in season. Here is how you can preserve the fruits, both cut pieces as well as whole fruits.

• If you want to preserve a seasonal fruit for the next winter season, you may add honey to the cut or squashed fruits and keep them in the refrigerator. Normally, one cup of water and two cups of honey are required to preserve a whole fruit. While preserving a whole fruit make certain that the entire fruit is covered by the water and honey.
• Honey is also useful as a spread over fruit puree as it enhances the latter’s flavor.
• A blend of honey and yogurt is an excellent desert. Give it a try and you will remember the flavor for long.
• Substituting sugar with honey in pancakes makes them taste delicious.
• You may also spread honey over banana to prepare a delicious pudding.

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