Basic knowledge about natural honey

Few Basic Knowledge You should have before buying honey.

What is Honey?

Honey is a naturally sweet liquid made by the honeybees. Honeybees visit flowers, sucks nectar and convert them into Honey by natural process. Color, consistency, aroma (smell) and taste vary according to the source of the flower. Honey has many microelements which are highly beneficial for the human body. Honey has a long history of human consumption. It is highly popular in the various ancient system of medicine like Ayurveda, Unani, Chinese medicines, Naturopathy etc.
It has also a role in religion and symbolism.

Honey production :
Honeybees are present everywhere in the world, They are present in forest areas, agriculture areas and even urban areas where plants and trees are present. We can’t imagine a world without Honeybees. Honeybees are compulsory need of ‘‘plant world’’  for pollination. It is a nature’s process to transfer pollen grains from one flower to another, without which a plant or tree cant survive.
Human beings extract Honey by two processes 1) By directly breaking the beehives formed by the bees  2) By domesticating (Honeybees are given a ready-made home) and migrating them to different forest areas, and extracting honey without damaging hives.

Honey production in India :
 India has highest varieties of plants and trees which cover around 24.1% of the total geographical area, which comes around 7,89,200 sq. Km. Total Honey production is around 70,000 tons per year out of which  25000 tons is exported. Major export is of Mustard Honey.

Honey adulteration in India :
 The demand of Honey in India is more than the production, a lot of adulterated Honey is freely sold in the market even in the branded segment. The most common adulterant is Invert sugar syrup (which is getting produced at industrial scale with the intention to be sold in the name of Honey) others are ‘‘liquid glucose’’  and imported ‘‘High fructose corn syrup’’.The more recent one Rice syrup is
imported from China.

How is fake honey sold in India?
 Fake and adulterated Honey is easily sold in India because people have less knowledge and many myths related to Honey and people rely on the conventional method of testing Honey. The fake Honey sold in the Indian market has the same physical nature as Honey, they are thick & shiny (because of the absence of pollen grains). They do not granulate even if refrigerated. Therefore people think it to be of good quality Honey. As the Natural Honey granulates but fake Honey does not. some times Natural Honey is rejected because of the lack of knowledge &  myths. Therefore in India Fake Honey is sold by many small & Big brands very comfortably.

What is Beekeeping or Apiary Honey?
           There are two types of Honey bees which are used in beekeeping Apis mellifera and
apis cerena indica both bees makes comb in dark places(Inside hollow trees, rocks or soil). Beekeeper gives them ready-made Home called bee-box where bees store Honey. The beekeeper will extract Honey from these combs hygienically and keep the combs back without disturbing the comb so that bees can fill it again. A beekeeper keeps on migrating to different forest areas to cover all flowering seasons year long to collect more Honey.

How to identify Honey adulteration? As the different areas of Honey will have different colour, taste and aroma it is almost impossible to identify Honey just by the taste. And also The conventional method of testing Honey judges only physical nature. Almost all adulterated Honey passes these conventional tests as they copy physical nature perfectly. The only reliable method to identify adulteration in Honey is a Laboratory test (chemical test).

Where can we get Honey tested?

CBRTI (Center for bees research and training institute ) Pune, is the centre for testing Honey in India. And also there are State food laboratories in every Indian state, run by the government and also there are many private labs.

Types of Honeybees in India :

There are 5 types of Honey bees present in India.

APIS DORSATA : (Rock bee, The largest of all )

 They make big hives, The ones which we notice often on Rocks, Big buildings, big trees. A full-size hive may have around
10 to 20 kgs Honey. these can’t be domesticated as they form hives in open places.

APIS MELLIFERA: (Domesticated bees)

This is smaller than Dorsata bee, It was brought from Italy for
domesticating in India. As it makes hives in close and dark places they are given a  ready-made House called Bee-box,  where bees collect Honey. These Bee-Boxes are migrated frequently from one forest to another to cover flowering seasons.
Honey is extracted hygienically from the boxes without disturbing the hives.

APIS CERENA INDICA: This is Indian native Bee, This is also domesticated but the capacity of collecting Honey is less than Mellifera bee.

APIS FLOREA: These are honeybees which form small hives on branches of the trees.

APIS TRIGONA: This is the smallest Honey bee which produces sour Honey.

Types of Honey: 

Honey is classified in 3 ways.

 1) According to the source of the flower: Honey extracted from the region where
     50% area is covered by one type of flower is called as  UNIFLORA HONEY otherwise
     It is called as MULTIFLORA HONEY.
 (Different type of UNIFLORA HONEY available in India: Eucalyptus Honey, Jamun Honey
  Karanj Honey, Ajwain Honey, White clover Honey,  sweet neem(kadipatta) Honey,
  wild jujube(Sidr)Honey, acacia Honey, solai Honey, jhanti Honey, coriander Honey etc)


2) According to processing and Packing:
     ULTRA FILTERED HONEY - Honey is subjected to high heat and  finest filter,  removing
      all essential particles  like  bee pollens, Honey such filtered is suitable for supermarket
      sale as it has less tendency to crystallize and appears more attractive. But its
      the nutritional and medicinal value is compromised, It may be called as denatured Honey.
      Many Big brands sell this type of  Honey.
    STRAINED HONEY (Bharat Honey)- Honey is subject to filter only to remove wax or big particles retaining its nutritional and medicinal properties. Such Honey is Ideal for medicinal use. Strained Honey is more likely to granulate as it is in its most natural form.
    CRYSTALLIZED HONEY - Honey is sold in the granulated form which is good for the
    table purpose can be applied easily on the bread etc.
    Honey is deliberately crystallized to form more uniform crystals.

3) WILD BEE HONEY & APIARY HONEY (Beekeeping honey): Squeezed Honey - Honey
     extracted by breaking the comb directly and squeezed in a cloth.
     Apiary Honey - Comb frame is placed in the Honey extractors and rotated, Honey comes out due to centrifugal force. Combs will be placed back in bee-box.

Conclusion:
Honey became mysterious food nowadays. Consumer awareness is important so that they do not get mislead by myths.

MYTHS & FACTS ABOUT HONEY

Here are 5 myths and facts about honey You should know before you buy honey

MYTH: Pure Honey is not or rarely available these days.

FACT: Production of natural Honey in India is 70,000 tonnes per year out of which
              25000 tonnes of honey is exported.

MYTH: Honey can easily be tested for its purity by conventional methods. like
               a) Slowly dropping honey in a glass of water, pure honey settles at the bottom
               b) The dog will not eat bread applied with pure honey
               c) Cotton wet in Honey will not carbon smoke when burnt
               d) Ants will not get attracted to pure Honey.

FACT: Conventional method of testing can only identify physical nature. 
              All the fake and adulterated Honey available these days can pass all these tests easily.                  Honey can only be identified in food laboratories.

MYTH: Pure Honey doesn't crystallize or Granulate. Crystallized Honey is Fake or adulterated. 

FACT: This is the most popular myth in India and Gulf countries. 
              Crystallization of Honey is a Natural phenomenon which depends on 
              (a) Variety of Honey(source of flowers) 
              (b) Atmospheric Temperature
              (c) Presence of Pollen and other particles
              Pure crystallized Honey can easily be re-liquefied by keeping in warm
              water or sunlight.  Crystallization doesn't affect the quality of Honey.

MYTH: Apiary Honey or Beekeeping Honey is artificial and has no medicinal value.

 FACT: The Honey produced by beekeepers are same or some way superior
               to the tribal collected squeezed Honey.(Reason: more hygienic, 
               combs not destroyed, free from remnants of bees larvae and dust)  

MYTH: Light coloured and thick Honey are of superior quality.

FACT: Color of Natural Honey Ranges from light watery colour to dark amber,
             which depends on the source of flower and pollen content. Irrespective of colour all types of Honey has almost the same nutritional and medicinal value. Honey contains moisture level ranging 18-25 %, which is according to the time and season of harvesting. lesser the moisture thicker will be the Honey. Few brands deliberately thicken Honey to be more appealing in the market.

             
            

CRYSTALLIZATION OF HONEY

    

CRYSTALLIZATION OF HONEY

At room temperature Honey is a supercooled liquid in which the natural dextrose will precipitates slowly into the solid granules. This process is called crystallization or granulation of Honey. Within a few weeks or months after extraction, many varieties of Indian origin Honey granulates into solid crystals or cream form. The fastest process of granulation is seen in Mustard Honey (major crop in India), It will turn into solid Honey within a week therefore almost 90% production of Mustard Honey is exported to USA and Europeans countries where crystallized Honey is not considered Adulterated.

   Apart from the variety, crystallization also depends on atmospheric temperature. lesser the temperature faster is the process of crystallization. Hence it is always advised not to keep Honey in the refrigerator. Read any label of Honey you will find this sentence.

    DON'T REFRIGERATE HONEY, HONEY TENDS TO CRYSTALLIZE,

 TO LIQUEFY CRYSTALLIZED HONEY KEEP IN WARM WATER OR SUNLIGHT

           

 
       Crystallization doesn't affect taste or quality of Honey, Indeed it is a natural process by which Honey preserves itself and remain edible for centuries. Honey found in Egyptian caves was in crystallized form, it was suitable for human consumption even after 1000s of years.  
             
      Crystallization can be delayed by proper processing and filtering it but can’t be stopped.
Because of the strong myth against granulation in India and Gulf countries, many commercial brands denatures the Honey to stop crystallization. Heavy processing and addition of Anti-granulating agents will remove its nutritional and medicinal properties and even may cause health hazards.