About Honey
A sweet food made by bees using nectar from flowers, honey is not only known for its sweetness, it is a well-known source of healing properties. Here are a few facts about honey which in all probability you did not know and some health benefits of honey that can help you run the extra mile.
  1. In a hive of honey bees, there are three types of honey bees, namely, a single queen bee, a variable number of male drone bees (depending on the season)to fertilize new queens, and about 20,000 to 40,000 female worker bees.
  2. It is the ‘responsibility’ of the worker bees to raise larvae and collect nectar from flowers which becomes honey in the hive.
  3. As evidenced by a cave painting in Valencia (Spain), humans began hunting for honey at least 8,000 years ago.
  4. A bird, related to the woodpeckers, known as Greater Honeyguide guides humans to wild honey bee hives.
  5. According to Ayurveda, an ancient healing practice originating in India, honey can positively affect all the three primal material imbalances of the body, viz., vata, pitta, and kapha.
  6. Honey is useful in treating several ailments, as it is an antimicrobial agent. Due to low water activity in honey causing osmosis, high acidity, slow release of hydrogen peroxide, chelation of free iron and the antibacterial activity of methylglyoxal, honey contains antibacterial properties used for treating diseases.
  7. In a comprehensive treatment of diabetic ulcers, topical honey has been used successfully when the patient could not use topical antibiotics.
  8. A recent study has revealed that honey can reduce the time needed to heal mild burn, up to four days in certain cases.
  9. For centuries honey has been used as a treatment for sore throats and coughs. Recent research corroborates honey as a soothing agent for coughs.
  10. Unfiltered and pasteurized honey is widely believed to alleviate allergies. A recent study has revealed that pollen collected by bees has an antiallergenic effect.