Who else would not love to lick a drop of yummy honey? Well, the bottle of honey would bring you joy and happiness from nowhere. Honey is naturally produced all over the world and is said to be used in various food items as well as tasted in its raw form. However, it is the only food product produced by an insect. Isn’t interesting to learn? Almost, All of us know that pure and natural honey has been incorporated with several health benefits. It has also been helpful in promoting health and healing for centuries. Meanwhile, you have to know some surprisingly interesting facts about honey which might be unknown to many.
USED AS A CURRENCY: Could you believe that honey is used as currency back then? It was in the 11th century that Germans considered honey as a high-valued commodity. Even the German lords forced their peasants to make payments to them in honey. Well, the prized honey was preferred as the perfect ingredient for sweetening beer.
THE LONGEVITY OF HONEY: The flowering plants started blooming on the planet right from nearly 130 million years ago. It seemed like it took several million years for bees to arrive. Even the oldest fossilized honeycomb comes back from three million years. Howbeit, humans have been using the honey for about thousands of years. But a drawing in Spain depicts the humans removing honey from a hive which is about 15,000 years old. The history of honey goes way back which is beyond your thinking.
DID YOU KNOW ABOUT HONEY NUMBERS? Ever thought of different types of honey and its flavor and color? It might sound completely new to most of us but still honey has varieties of flavors and colors depending on the source of the nectar bees have gathered. Famously known honey are a wildflower, buckwheat, and clover honey. Yet another unique one is eucalyptus honey which would provide the slight flavor of menthol. You might think now how honey is related to numbers. Well, the honey colors are graded with numbers, in which the highest number indicates the darkest color. On the other hand, honey is valued by granulation as well. The unfiltered raw honey would be granulated faster than filtered and even the granulated honey could be turned into a liquid with a hot water bath. Have you got a clear idea of Honey numbers now?
THE LITTLE DANCE PERFORMANCE OF HONEY BEES: Did you know honey bees perform a little dance? Yes, when honey bees return to the hive with pollen for honey-making, they would perform a little dance to inform the rest of the hive exactly where the good juicy flowers are located. Later, the bees would then turn the collected nectar to honey thereby adding enzymes from their stomach. It would also lower the moisture by fluttering their wings at high speed. The amazing fact is that bees would have to visit two million flowers and have to fly about 55,000 miles to prepare one pound of honey.
COULD HONEY WASPS PRODUCE HONEY? It is a well-known fact that most honey is produced by busy bees but then there is this type of wasp which would also produce honey. Particularly, The Mexican honey wasp produces large amounts of honey while some of their honey production could be poisonous. This is because of the flowers from which it collects the pollen. Doesn’t sound weird?
