Oh, Honey!

Image by Hans Benn from Pixabay

Welcome back! Before we start the series Oh, Honey, I wanted to let you know September will be my last month hosting The Spice of Life. I enjoyed entertaining you and learned so much about writing.

Seasons come and go into our life, and right now, I am in a season where my attention is required elsewhere. Lord willing, I will be allowed to come back at some point, but if not, that is how it is to be.

I hope to deliver to you the history of honey, the making of honey, and the bees who make it, the medicinal uses of honey, along with the delicious ways to use honey in cooking and baking. So, sit back and enjoy this yummy, sweet, natural treat! It may just surprise you!

You may be wondering how come I like honey so much. At the being of 2022, I embarked on a weight-loss program that assisted in my twenty-seven-pound loss. During that time, I did a lot of reading about the history of food and eating, proper eating portions, and how the food industry has hijacked our brains and tastebuds with food chemicals that make it hard to say no to just one bite.

As I read about eating and continued in the program, I realized that I was happier and more at peace when I ate every two and a half hours. The traditional breakfast, lunch, and dinner times were something society thought works well. Our prehistoric ancestors lived an entirely different food life.

You can read about our food culture in my food history series here, https://www.mandyandmichele.com/the-evolution-of-eating/. Once you look that article up you, will find three more, here, here, and here. Enjoy!

History of Honey

Image by PollyDot from Pixabay

We cannot talk about honey unless we talk about the honey bee. No bees, no honey. Bees play a very important role in bio-food security. Bees’ role in pollinating flowers and trees produces a variety of food around the globe.

Here are some fun bee fast facts:

• There are 20,000 known bee species worldwide. Check them out here, https://www.usgs.gov/faqs/how-many-species-native-bees-are-united-states?qt-news_science_products=0#qt-news_science_products.
• 4000 bee species are native to the United States of America.
• Most bee species are wild, and man only manages a few of them.
• Bees have an excellent sense of smell.
• Bees have hairy eyes. They also have five eyes: two large eyes that are compound and three simple eyes.
• Bees cannot see the color red; they see ultraviolet patterns in flowers.
• Antarctica is the only continent where bees cannot live.
• Female bees sting. Male bees do not sting.
• Bees have been trained to decect landmines. They also have been trained to detect illness in people.

Healthy benefits of honey

Honey not only sweetens our food but plays a role in our health. Check out these honey health facts:

• Honey is a natural energy resource for our physical bodies.
• It supports are immune system. It supports our immune system, providing us with natural allergy relief.
• Our digestive systems benefit from honeys natural pro-biotic with active enzymes.
• You can use honey to relieve coughing and soothe your sore throat.
• Apply medical-grade Manuka honey to help wounds heal. Yes, it has to be medical grade honey.

The prehistoric man gathered honey from honey bees as far back as 6000 BC, as evidenced by rock paintings in different areas around the world. This sweet treat was worth scaling rocks and digging into dirt to find this golden syrupy goodie.

You can sure bet Winnie the Pooh had his favorite honey. But I bet he didn’t roam too far from home and settled for local honey. Just how many kinds of honey are there? Glad you asked! There are several different types of honey and next week we will continue on our sweet pursuit of the different types of honey.

Till next time. Here is to good food, good friends, and a great taste of natural honey!

Resources:

• https://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/why-are-bees-important-to-humans
• https://www.lhf.org/2013/05/a-honeybee-history/
• https://www.mainstreethoney.com/learn/learn-about-honey/history-of-honey/
• https://www.thespruceeats.com/honey-history-1807611
• https://petpedia.co/bee-facts/
• https://beemission.com/blogs/news/22-amazing-facts-about-bees