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Honey

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Honey is produced from the nectar of plants mainly secreted by glands in flowers. Bees and plants have a long evolutionary relationship, with colony development intimately linkedï¿½to plant flowering periods. Nectar is a solution in water of various sugars, which may comprise up to 87% of the total weight of honey. What gives honey its unique properties are 181 different minor components it contains that have been discovered so far - some of which are unknown anywhere else. The exact composition of honey depends on the plant sources from which it derives and no two honeys are identical. The proportion of different sugars in the honey will affect the physical property of granulation, which is a natural process of crystallisation of the supersaturated sugar solution once it is harvested from the hive.

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Honey bees and other social bees that store a surplus of honey transform the nectar into honey by adding enzymes, changing the sugars into a simpler form, reducing the water content and storing it so that it will keep and does not have to be consumed immediately. For honeybees this transformation and storage of nectar allows them to survive across a wide range of habitats and climatic conditions making the honeybee one of the earth's most adaptable species.ï¿½

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Honey is a valuable product often used as a foodstuff by humans. It is an energy rich, easily digestible foodstuff that people understand and enjoy. Because of this, it is especially valuable for children and the elderly or people who are sick and may have lost their appetite. A nourishing recipe is honey mixed into a porridge made of maize meal and ground peanuts. Honey has also significant medicinal properties and use. In many countries it is essential for use with traditional and herbal medicines, and there is now increasing interest in the use of honey in conventional medicine. Honey is valuable for burns and wounds and will help healing, especially leg ulcers, bed sores andï¿½other festering sores,ï¿½and reducing the smell from advanced fungating cancers because of its antibiotic and debriding effect. It can be used to alleviate conjunctivitis - two drops will dissolve in the fluid of the eye and act as an antibiotic. It will also relieve sore throats, constipation, coughs and colds and gastritis.

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Because of its high concentration of sugar honey is hygroscopic, absorbing water readily under certain environmental conditions. Honey with a high water content is likely to ferment. Honey also picks up taints and bad flavours very easily so correct handling and storage of the honey is essential. The geographical origin of honey can be checked by analysing the pollen it contains. Pasteurising and ultra filtration of honey, used by commercial producers to prevent honey from granulation, removes pollen along with the chance of identifying the source and naturalness of the honey and also removes much of its subtle nutritional and medicinal value.

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List of Articles available on this topic (131):

Title	Author
A Book of Honey	Crane. E.
A couple of things about honey: honey standards and regulation	Ball, R.
A day in the life of Dinah Sweet : presenting a honey judge\'s workshop in Trinidad	Sweet, D.
A letter from our old friend A. Bunker	Bunker, A.
African honey trade workshop (no.81)	Bees for Development
An estimate of honey and beeswax production in the North-Western province	Mulenga, K.B.
Analysis of Welsh Nectar Sources	Roberts, P.
Bee Produce	Herrod-Hempsall, W
Beekeeping Round the World Hong Kong	Dziadyk, A.
Beekeeping Technology Adoption and its Effect on Resource Productivity in Southern Kenya Rangelands	Muriuki, J. M.
Beekeeping: Digest of Selected Literature on Beekeeping, Honey and Beewax Processing	Bassey, I.H.
Bees & Honey: from flower to jar	Weiler, M.
Bees and their role in forest livelihoods: a guide to the services provided by bees and the sustainable harvesting, processing and marketing of their products	Bradbear, N.
Bees in the City	Benjamin A. & McCallum B.
Bees in the miombo	Madeleen Husselman, Moira Moeliono and Fiona Paumgarten
Beeswax and Honey Production: The Nyasaland Potential (Malawi)	Sheriff. J.S.
Book of honey	Bogdanov,S
Burkina Faso	Nombre, I.; Sawadogo, M.; Boussim, J. & Guinko, S.
Burma Beekeeping News 1988
China Honey Demand	Anon
China Royal Jelly Demand	Anon
Contaminated Chinese honey puts Sara Lee and Smukers in a sticky situation	Lumpkin, D.
Craft aid in Rodrigues: bees and disabled people	Draper, P. & Duggan, M.
Crystallisation	USA National Honey Board
Directory of Important World Honey Sources	Crane, E., Walker, P. & Day, R.
Do all honeys granulate (crystallize)?	Bees for Development
Does Bees for Development import honey?	Bees for Development
Eat Honey	Baraka Agriculture College, Kenya
Eco-friendly harvesting of rock bees (sustainable Apis dorsata honey hunting)	Paliwal, G.N.; Paliwal, S. & Tembhare, D.B.
Fake honey warning	Bees for Development
Food For the Future	Wynne-Tyson, J.
Forest honey in Zambia	Bees for Development
Gale\'s Honey Book	Jones, B.
Granulated or Crystalized Honey	Tonsley, C.C.
Granulated or Crystallized Honey	Tonsley, C C
Home Honey Production	Bielby, W.B.
Honey - A Practical Manual for African Community Beekeepers	Towry-Coker, S.
Honey - a viable medicine for rural folk	Maruthi, I., Murthy, T.H.
Honey - From Hive to Honeypot	Style, S
Honey - Nature\'s Golden Healer	Havenhand, G.
Honey and Beeswax: A compact study of the Netherlands and other major markets in the European Union	CBI
Honey and Beeswax: A Survey on the Netherlands and other Major Markets in the European Community	CBI
Honey and Dust: Travels in Search of Sweetness	Moore, P.
Honey and Health	Croft, L
Honey Bee Biology and Beekeeping	Caron, D.M.
Honey by the Ton	Field, O.
Honey Cakes and Biscuits	Wardle, M
Honey flows upwards across China	Tang-Dong, J.
Honey for export	-
Honey hunting in the Nilgiri biosphere reserve	Sharma, K.
Honey in the Kitchen	White, J.
Honey in the Kitchen	White, J.
Honey labelling regulations	Horgan, D.
Honey labelling requirements	Davies, G.
Honey Market Argentina
Honey Marketing	Riches, H
Honey of a brew	Burt, S.
Honey production by the Mayans in the Yucatan Peninsula	Guemes-Ricalde, F.J., Villanueva, G.R. and Eaton, K.D.
Honey production in Zambia	CIFOR
Honey Sources Satellite 1 : Bibliography (with Author Refernce Codes); Country Codes; Other Abbreviations	Crane, E., Fish, J. & Walker, P.
Honey Sources Satellite 2 : Plants Listed Alphabetically and By Family; Common Name Index; Pollen Grain Information	Crane, E., Day, R. & Walker, P.
Honey Sources Satellite 3 : Chemical Composition of some Honeys	Crane, E., Fish, J. & Walker, P.
Honey Sources Satellite 4. : Physical Properties, Flavours and Aromas of Some Honeys	Crane, E. & Walker, P.
Honey Sources Satellite 5. : Honeydew Sources and their Honeys	Crane, E. & Walker, P.
Honey Sources Satellite 6. : Drought Tolerant Honey Sources	Crane, E. & Walker, P.
Honey success in the Indian ocean	Smith, P.
Honey trade issues	Durham, M.
Honey, beecomb and beeswax sold at public markets in Thailand	Watanabe, H.
Honey-Twin-Spin: Electic Extractor only 8.5 High	Brinsea Products
Honey: A Beekeeper\'s Guide	GTTV
Honey: A Comprehensive Survey	Crane, E.
Honeys of the world	Cosson, C.
How can I tell if honey has been adulterated?	Bees for Development
How to make Zambian honey beer	Malichi, B.
Improving Livelihoods through Community-Based Beekeeping	Partap, U. & Min B. Gurung
In Pursuit of Liquid Gold	Ogden, R B
India expands honey production	Flottum, N.
Information for honey packers	Lowore, J. Bradbear, N.
Keeping Bees in Towns and Cities	Dixon, L.
L\'Abeille Mellifere et la Sante de l\'Homme	Zhen-ming Jin, Xian-shu Liu, Wei Shi
Malta, isle of the knights, island of the honey	Maseeti, L.N.
Management of Philippine Bees	Cervancia C.R: Fajardo A.C; Manila-Fajardo A.C; Lucero R.M.
Management, Production and Exhibiting of Heather Honey	Vickery, G
Manuka Honey - why so special?	Researchers at Waikato University
Marketing Honey and Beeswax from Apis dorsata in West Kalimantan	Mulder, V.; Heri, V.; Wickham, T.
Marketing Zambian honey in the German market	Kaitisha, F.
Mary Workman\'s Honey Recipes	Furness, C A
Mead making, exhibiting and judging	Riches, H H R
Mediterranean Melissopalynology	Galarini, R. & Ricciardelli D\'Albore, M.
More Honey in the Kitchen	White, J
Natural antibiotic found in honey	Bradbear, N., Martin, P. & Wainwright, D.
Nicaragua and organic honey	Fert, G.
Nicotine in honey
Organic Beekeeping in Mexico	Furst, M.; Ganz, P.
Organic honey update: questions and concerns	Fulton, H.
Perspectives for Honey Production in the Tropics	Sommeijer, M.J., Beetsma, J., Boot, W., de Vries, R. & Robberts E.
Petrified Honey?	Miles, A.
Poison honey	Winston, M.
Policy and Processes that Enable Honey Export	Sharma, HK; Partap, U; Gurung, Min B
Practical Beekeeping - Honey: local tests and therapies	Olagbaju, E.
Practical Beekeeping - Reducingthe water content of tropical honey	Leo, R.
Practical Beekeeping and Honey Production	Macfie, D T
Preparation of Liquid Honey	Tonsley, C.C.
Production and Exhibition of Comb Honey	Robson, W S
Quality Assurance for the Honey Trade in the Hindu Kush Hiamalayan Region	Partap, U., Gurung, M. & Joshi, S.
Quality honey from affordable local- style hives	Mogga, J.
Quality standards for honey	Martin, P.
Ragwort and honey	Ogden, B.
Reducing the water content of tropical honey	Leo, R.
Searching for gold in Malaysian rainforest - part 2	Cohn, D.
Searching for gold in the Malaysian rainforest - part 1	Cohn, D.
Selling Honey	Bonney, R. (ed)
Selling honey - ten tips for road-side selling	Bees for Development
Showing Honey Products	Brown, R
Strong competition drives down prices for US honey imports in 2004	Parker, J.
Super Formulas: How to make more than 360 useful products that contain honey and beeswax	White, E.C.
Swedish scientists have solved honey’s enigma	Vasquez,A et al
Tainted Chinese honey relabelled	Flottum, K.
The BBKA Guide to Beekeeping	Davis, I. & Cullum-Kenyon, R.
The different forms of honey	Connor,L.
The Honey Industry in Malawi & Beekeeping in Mzuzu	Munthali, S.C. & Chunga, C.
The problem with Chinese honey: a synopsis	Lumpkin, D.
Turn an old outboard motor into a new honey extractor	Yepes, J.M.
Two Million Blossoms: Discovering the Medicinal Benefits of Honey	Traynor, K.S.
Update on BfDJ 103 - Fungicide residues bankrupt beekeepers in Vietnam	Source: Tuoi Tre News, 17 May 2012
US honey import prices	Parker, J.B.
Value Assed Products: Making Cosmetics	Svensson, B.
Vietnam: Beekeeping development and honey marketing	Phipps, R.
World honey market	Phipps, R.
World honey market - Argentina	Graham, J.M.
World honey trade	Guoda, G., Chun, Z.

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Honey

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