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Honey
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Concentrated
flower nectar -
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Summary: Honey
bees collect flower nectar and turn it into honey.
Humans harvest some of this honey for use as a
sweetener. The best sources of honey are small
beekeepers that can carefully control the floral
sources of their product.
Jack DeAngelis, PhD
OSU Ext. Entomologist
(ret.)
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What is honey?
Honey is concentrated flower nectar. Honey bees,
and a few other insects, collect flower nectar for
food. Some plants produce this nectar in order to
entice insects to visit their flowers where they
pick up pollen thereby facilitating pollination of
the next flower they visit.
Honey may contain a small amount of this
plant pollen and other contaminants so some honey
is filtered to remove these materials but many
people actually prefer unfiltered honey.
Bees collect nectar and bring it back to
the hive where it is placed into storage to feed
the colony. Since plant nectar is very liquid the
bees concentrate the nectar to stop microbial
growth (bacteria do not grow well in concentrated
sugar solutions) and to reduce storage volume. The
end result of this bee activity is what we call honey.
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Beekeepers extract honey by removing the
honey storage cells of a hive, or comb, and spinning
it in a centrifuge. The honey is then sometimes
filtered and pasteurized. Honey connoisseurs
generally prefer raw honey which is
unfiltered and uncooked.
The color and flavor of
honey varies by floral source. Honey made
from clover flowers, for example, looks and tastes
different than honey from blackberry flowers. Small
scale beekeepers are better able to control the
floral source of their honey and hence offer a more
distinctive product. Inexpensive
honey is usually a blend of many floral sources.
Since honey serves as the food reserves of
the hive we essentially rob the hive when we
collect honey. As such, beekeepers must sometimes
feed the colony sugar water throughout the winter
months, when flower nectar is unavailable.
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Where can I purchase high quality honey?
Local beekeepers are your best source for
high quality honey. Check with your county
agricultural Extension office or state agricultural
university for a list of beekeepers in your area.
Another good place to find a local beekeeper is the
nearest Farmers Market. Keep in mind that there are
usually two types of beekeepers. Those that maintain
bees mainly as commercial pollinators, and harvest
honey as a by-product, and those that maintain bees
mainly for honey and beeswax production. The latter
group typically have fewer hives and thus can
control honey quality better (see Commercial
and Hobby Beekeeping).
The next best honey source is a retailer
that specializes in honey and honey related
products. Online stores can be very useful here
because you get to sample honey from different
geographic areas, and floral sources, by mail order.
Honey is sold by weight or
volume. As a rough estimate 1 gallon weighs about 12
pounds (roughly 1.5 times the weight of water).
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An important reminder to parents about
honey
Do not give honey, in any form, to
children under 1 year of age. Honey may
contain spores of a bacterium that infants are
unable to tolerate.
Honey Bees
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