The making of honey is a complex act of nature but one that's quite easy to understand. You certainly don't need a PhD in apiculture to grasp the basics of bees, beekeeping and the products of bees. Schools teach a few basic facts to students, but there will be some things that many just don't know about. The idea of this FAQ page is to cover all the basics of the bee's most popular product, “honey.”

Before you start, watch this short video which highlights some of the health benefits honey has for humans.

My Frequently Asked Questions Page on Honey

Q. Where does honey come from?

A. Bees produce honey to provide food stores for the hive. When winter sets in, and all the flowers are gone, the larvae have a stash of food available to keep them going.

Q. Do all bees eat honey?

A. No, adult bees eat some pollen and lots of nectar from blooming plants. Most of the larvae in the hive eat the honey, and the Queen bee eats royal jelly (RJ).

Q. Royal jelly?

A. It's a special substance that is secreted by honeybee workers. The queen is fed exclusively on RJ and some larvae that are being raised as potential queen bees also get RJ.

Q. How much honey do bees have to store in their hive to keep them going through winter?

A. Typical hives only need between 20-30 lb of honey to survive an average winter. Bees always produce a lot more honey than they use. This excess is what the beekeepers harvest.

Q. What is real honey made of?

A. The end product is quite a complex mix. It contains the following ingredients:

• Natural sugars (80%)
• Water (18%)
• Minerals, vitamins, pollen and protein (2%)

Q. Some honey is clear whereas some is set. What's the difference?

A. Some honey is higher in fructose content than others. These are the honeys that will remain liquid (clear) for longer. Other honeys will contain more glucose than fructose. These are the honeys that crystallize (set) quickly.

Note that a honey can be clear or set but still taste the same. When crystallization occurs, it's only the texture of the honey that changes. There is no actual difference in the taste or its nutritional value. It's quite possible to restore honey to its liquid state simply by placing it in warm water for a couple of hours.

Q. How many different types of honey are there?

A. The actual variety of honeys is vast. Bees, if they need to, they can travel up to six miles from their hive to gather nectar. In most cases though, bees will not travel much further out than a couple of miles at the most. The point is that they can be exposed to a lot of blooming plants in their surroundings. Because of this, they can gather lots of nectar from many different plants. This produces what we call polyflora honeys. Bees might also have a dominant plant in their neighborhood. When they gather nectar from only one kind of flower they produce what we call monofloral honeys.

Q. How do beekeepers process the high priced honey?

A. The extraction process for all honey is basically the same, irrespective of the type or grade of it.

Q. Why do beekeepers warm their honey before bottling it?

A. The reason why beekeepers heat their honey a little is to melt naturally occurring crystals. This “heating” process also filters out tiny organic impurities from the honey, like wax.

Q. What is “Flash” heating?

A. Some beekeepers put their honey through a heat exchanger for 30 seconds or so. What this does is makes sure the honey remains liquid. It's worth noting here that this process does not in any way damage the natural enzymes or nutrients in the honey.

Q. Do beekeepers ever add sugar and/or water to their honey to improve its taste or consistency?

A. No never.

Q. I've heard that heating can mess with the natural flavor of the honey. Is it true?

A. Gentle or fast heating has no effect on the natural flavor of the honey.

Q. Is it okay to use honey as a sweetener in place of sugar?

A. Absolutely yes. Honey is not only a great alternative to table sugar, but it's much healthier too.

Q. What are the different forms of honey?

A. Honey comes in three basic forms, liquid, whipped and comb. Whipped honey is finely crystallized so that it becomes nice and creamy. Comb honey is raw (original), taken straight from the bee's hive.

To finish on we will add a Q&A that the University Of Illinois At Urbana-Champaign can answer in some detail.

Q. Does dark honey have more illness-fighting agents than light honey?

Summary

These are some interesting facts about bees, beekeepers, and of course the honey, but it's not the full story. There is plenty more to learn for anyone interested in the science behind the wonderful food from the insects.