The History of Honey

Honey is probably the best sweetener man has ever came into contact with. It is made by bees and their power of converting nectar into honey. Honey contains only 14-18% water and complex natural sugars. This sweetener has many uses and is absolutely delightful. It is hard to say how long honey has been in existence. Cave paintings in Spain from 7000BC show the earliest records of beekeeping, however, fossils of honey bees date back about 150 million years!

The earliest record of keeping bees in hives was found in the sun temple erected in 2400BC near Cairo. The bee featured frequently in Egyptian hieroglyphs and, being favored by the pharaohs, often symbolized royalty. Bees were subdued with smoke ,and trees and rocks were resulting of destruction of their colony. With so many food sweeteners now, it is hard to appreciate the sweetness of honey. Honey was very much appreciate by Ancient Egyptians because honey had a role in births, deaths and marriages; it was believed to provide the energy and inspiration to create a child. There are many different kinds of stories about how honey was used. Some of the stories were like the legend of how Cupid dipped his love arrows in honey before aiming at unsuspecting lovers. In the Old Testament of the Bible, Israel was often referred to as “the land of milk and honey.” Mead, an alcoholic drink made from honey was called “nectar of the gods,” high praise indeed. Honey was valued highly and often used as a form of currency, tribute, or offering. In the 11th century A.D., German peasants paid their feudal lords in honey and beeswax.

The Greeks, as well as the Romans made honey cakes and offered them to the gods. The Greeks viewed honey as not only an important food, but also as a healing medicine. Greek recipe books were full of sweets and cakes made from honey. Cheeses were mixed with honey to make cheesecakes, described by Euripides in the fifth century BC as being “steeped most thoroughly in the rich honey of the golden bee.”Not only was it the Greeks that used honey but also the Romans. The Romans also used honey as a gift to the gods and they used it extensively in cooking. Beekeeping flourished throughout the Roman empire. Once Christianity was established, honey and beeswax production increased greatly to meet the demand for church candles.

The word honey comes from the English word "hunig" which was a worldwide sweeter. With more than 300 varietals of honey found in the United States, ranging greatly in flavor, aroma and color, honey is a unique ingredient that helps home cooks and professional chefs create countless recipes in the kitchen. Not only is it good for recipes it is also in many different types of medicines and in moisturizers. There is a big list of the many benefits of honey like...

1. Prevent cancer and heart disease:
Honey contains flavoring, antioxidants which help reduce the risk of some cancers and heart disease.

2. Reduce ulcers and other gastrointestinal disorders.
Recent research shows that honey treatment may help disorders such as ulcers and bacterial gastroenteritis. This may be related to the 3rd benefit…

3. Anti-bacterial, anti-fungal, anti-fungal:
“All honey is antibacterial, because the bees add an enzyme that makes hydrogen peroxide,” said Peter Molan, director of the Honey Research Unit at the University of Waikato in New Zealand.

4. Increase athletic performance.
Ancient Olympic athletes would eat honey and dried figs to enhance their performance. This has now been verified with modern studies, showing that it is superior in maintaining glycogen levels and improving recovery time than other sweeteners.

5. Reduce cough and throat irritation:
Honey helps with coughs, particularly buckwheat honey. In a study of 110 children, a single dose of buckwheat honey was just as effective as a single dose of dextromethorphan in relieving nocturnal cough and allowing proper sleep.

Honey is a miracle food; it never goes bad. It was reported that archaeologists found 2000 year old jars of honey in Egyptian tombs and they still tasted delicious! Many people find it rather surprising that bacteria cannot grow in honey because all things being equal, bacteria loves sugar. These are some of the facts why sugar is the best sweetneer man has ever came into contact with. It should be much more appreciated and so should the bees. Thank you honey bees!