Sweet as Honey, Honey

I have a great recipe for bran muffins, but to be honest I hardly ever make them for the actual muffins. I make them for what I put on top of the muffins when I eat them, honey. The combination of a warm muffin, butter and honey is like heaven to me. Winnie the Pooh, in the book House at Pooh Corner by A.A. Milne, once said, “The only reason for being a bee that I know of is making honey … and the only reason for making honey is so I can eat it.” I couldn’t agree more. Wildflower (mixed)Honey is the only human food produced by insects. It is pure and unprocessed and it is the only food that will never spoil. Honey also has a very long history. In ancient Egypt honey was so valued it was used as a form of currency, tribute and offering as well as to feed sacred animals. It has been written about since the 21st century B.C. in Babylonian and Sumerian cuneiform writings. Beekeeping was depicted in wall paintings found in Spanish caves, dating back to 7,000 B.C. In Greece an alcohol drink made with honey called Mead, was considered the drink of Gods. German beer was sweetened with honey in the 11th century A.D. and peasants were required to give their feudal lords a payment of honey and beeswax. By 1600 A.D. native Mexicans and Central Americans had already developed beekeeping methods to produce honey. In the American colonies honey was used to prepare foods and beverages, to make cement, to preserve fruits, to make furniture polish and varnish and for medicinal properties. Bees have been producing honey for at least 150 million years, but why? Bees produce honey as food stores for the hive during the long winter months when flowers are not blooming and no nectar is available to them. Honeybees are also called worker bees and they fly from flower to flower gathering nectar and also performing a vital function called pollination. Pollination is the fertilization of a flowering plant, which occurs when pollen is transferred from one plant to another. About one-third of the human diet is derived from insect-pollinated plants and the honeybee is responsible for 80 percent of this pollination. The honeybee must tap over two million flowers to make one pound of honey. A bee will visit between 50 and 100 flowers in one trip alone. In order to get from flower to flower, the bee flies roughly 15 miles per hour. Here’s the kicker; the average bee only produces one-twelfth of a teaspoon of honey in its entire lifetime. Seems like a lot of hard work for such a little amount of honey, but it isn’t all work and no play. The bees get to dance too. When the bees get back to their wax honeycomb, they communicate to their fellow worker bees, through dance moves. Each dance move communicates a different signal such as when the nectar is out, how far it is to the nectar, and where the pollen is located. Every bee colony also has a social order and division of labor between bees. Each colony has one queen bee, 500 to 1,000 drone bees, and 30,000 to 60,000 worker bees. The queen bee is the only sexually active female in the hive, and lives for about two years. Her job is to have babies and eat royal jelly. The drone bees are male bees without stingers. Their job is to mate with the queen bee. The queen mates once receiving millions of sperm cells from the drones. The queen can lay 3,000 eggs in one day, enough to last throughout her lifetime. The worker bees are sexually underdeveloped female bees. Their job is to collect nectar, pollinate flowers, cool the hive by fanning their wings, make the wax comb, clean the hive, feed the larvae and guard the hive. So, have you ever heard anyone described as being a “Queen Bee”? I think the origin of this expression is clear. Beekeepers are another source of honey through the actual bees. Beekeepers control the bees honey production and gather honey by managing bee colonies as opposed to foraging for honey from wild bee colonies. The United States Department of Agriculture estimates that there are 130,000 to 220,000 beekeepers in the United States. These beekeepers monitor the hives to ensure a healthy queen and to keep the colony clean and free from disease. Beekeepers harvest their honey in late spring to early fall. On the average, a colony will produce about 80 pounds of surplus honey each year. To harvest the honey, the beekeepers remove the honeycomb frames from each hive and scrape off the wax to expose the honey. A centrifuge-like extractor is used to spin the honey out of the comb and the honey is passed through a filter and drains into a storage tank. The honey is then placed into a 55-gallon drum and sent to a honey packer or the beekeeper may bottle the honey for local sale. The color and flavor of honey depend on the bees’ nectar source. There are more than 300 unique kinds of honey in the United States. Flavors can range from mild to aromatic, spicy, fragrant or medicinal. Colors can range from near-white through yellow, yellow-green, gold, amber, dark brown or red, to nearly black. Texture can be from thin to heavy. Lighter honey is usually milder in flavor than darker honey. Honey also comes in a variety of forms. Liquid honey is free from any crystals or wax and is extracted from the comb using a centrifugal force. Whipped honey, or creamed honey, is finely crystallized so it remains creamy and spreadable. Comb honey is honey that comes as it was produced-in the honeybees’ wax comb. Sometimes part of the comb is sold with the honey. Honey can be a great source of vitamins and minerals. It is mainly fructose and glucose and other carbohydrates, and contains several compounds that function as antioxidants. It has been known as a dressing for wounds and burns because it inhibits the growth of certain bacteria, yeast and molds. Its high sugar content limits the amount of water available for microorganisms to grow. Therefore, honey may promote healing and prevent scarring in minor skin abrasions. Honey is also used for energy. It aids in an athlete’s endurance and helps athlete’s muscles recuperate following a workout. Honey can also sooth a cough or sore throat. However, it must be noted that infants up to one year old should not be fed raw honey, as their immune system may not be able to fight off a harmful strain of bacteria known as C botulinum. Because honey tastes so good, it can be used as a sweetener, as a substitute for sugar. When substituting honey for sugar in recipes, substitute honey for up to one-half of the sugar called for in the recipe. When baking with honey, reduce any liquid called for by one-fourth cup for each cup of honey used. Add one-half teaspoon baking soda for each cup of honey used and reduce the oven temperature by 25 degrees F. to prevent over-browning. A good rule to remember is that one 12-ounce jar of honey equals one standard measuring cup. When measuring honey, coat the measuring cup and utensils with non-stick cooking spray or vegetable oil before adding honey. This will allow the honey to slide out of the cup and off of the utensils easily. Honey should be stored in a cool dark place. If crystallization occurs, gently warm the honey in warm water or the microwave to melt the crystals. Honey has an indefinite shelf life. There are so many culinary uses for honey. It is a great spread for biscuits or bread. It can be added to beverages, barbecue sauces or meat glazes. There is honey mustard salad dressing and honey butter. Honey is also commonly used in making beer and ice cream. In fact, I once had some Wildflower Honey Ice Cream and it was incredible. So, break out the honey and make something wonderful. I plan to make a recipe, with my daughter, including honey all the while explaining exactly who is the real “Queen Bee” of this household-me! Varietals Found Throughout The United States: Acacia Alfalfa Avocado Basswood Blueberry Buckwheat Clover Eucalyptus Fireweed Heather Lehua Orange Blossom Safflower Sage Sourwood Tulip Poplar Tupelo