Since humans first began keeping bees, their principal aim has been the harvest of honey. Thus beekeeping methods have been adapted to accommodate colony behavior. Some success has been achieved in manipulation of colonies to capitalize on certain behavioral traits, but honey bees must still be considered wild, not domesticated, creatures, and honey a raw agricultural commodity. Ninety percent of the world's beekeepers live in Europe, Russia, Asia, and Africa and produce 54 percent of the world's honey by averaging 9.1 kg (20 lb) per colony. Ten percent of the world's beekeepers live in Australia and North and South America and produce 46 percent of the world honey crop by averaging 22.7 to 45.4 (50 to 100 lb) per colony. Some stingless bees (not honey bees) are kept for honey production, but the number of these colonies is comparatively small. Worldwide honey production is currently in ex- cess of 544,320 t (600,000 tons) annually. This quantity is provided by an estimated 50 million colonies kept by about 61/2 million beekeepers. The current world population is around 3,500 million people, so there are approximately 500 times more honey bees than people. Honey is elaborated from the nectar of numerous plant species but may also be produced from honeydew excretions of aphids and scale insects). Nectars vary considerably in quality and quantity, depending on the floral source. Similarly, honeys vary; some honey is nearly colorless (like water), with a light, pleasing aroma, and some is as dark as crankcase oil, with a heavy-bodied aroma. Honey from most floral sources falls between these extremes. Bees convert nectar to honey by drying it down to a moisture content of 15 to 20 percent and by adding a salivary enzyme that changes sucrose (long-chain sugar) into glucose and fructose (two short-chain sugars); honey is composed of sugars, mainly fructose and glucose. Honey also contains trace amounts of minerals, enzymes, vitamins, and colloids. Other biologically active constituents (such as hydrogen peroxide and gluconic acid) inhibit some microbial development but accelerate yeast growth. A limited number of plant sources yield nectar with toxic elements, but fortunately bees either recognize and avoid these or are able to nullify their effects. (Beekeepers avoid areas with such noxious plants.) Honey is used as a Sweetener (1 part honey 1.67 parts sugar) and in baking, baby foods, confectioneries, cosmetics, meat packing, pharmaceuticals, and syrups, and for curing tobacco. Honey is often used to maintain moisture as well. In times past, it was believed to be a powerful aphrodisiac. It is served in liquid or granulated (spread) form and in the comb; limited quantities of dried honey are now available. But for bees, honey is the allpurpose food, essential for stores of body fat, for flight, and in the production of heat, humidity, and wax. Other products of the hive include pollen, brood (still eaten by some primitive cultures), propolis (bee glue), royal jelly, venom, and of course beeswax. For making beeswax, each worker bee has four pairs of wax glands on the underside of its r abdomen; these function best in 12- to 18-day-old bees, according to the needs of the colony. Both protein (pollen) and carbohydrates (honey) are required to produce beeswax; 1 lb beeswax, which contains about 450,000 wax scales, will provide enough wax to make 35,000 hexagonal cells that can store 10 kg (22 lb) honey. Thus bees consume part of their food (pollen and honey) for the purpose of converting it into nest structure -specifically cells for food storage and brood rearing. It takes 2.7 to 4.5 kg (6 to 10 lb) honey to produce 0.45 kg (1 lb) wax. Beeswax has many uses worldwide, including the production of candles, cosmetics (the largest user-industry), electronics, lubricants, leather and fabric preservatives, polishes, inks and paints, models for dentistry, and beer. A large portion of the beeswax produced is recycled to the bee industry where it is used to produce the foundation for new honeycomb and queen cell cups. World production of beeswax exceeds 9072 t (10,000 tons) annually. Propolis is used in the attachment of combs to the top and sides of the hive, as well as for filling cracks, reducing the size of the hive entrance, and embalming intruders. It is composed of plant resins gathered by worker bees, beeswax (30 to 60 percent), balm (perhaps a glandular secretion of bees or a product of honey bee digestion), as well as pollen and hive debris. In times past, varnishes responsible for the tonal quality of violins and the finishes ori other fine woods contained refined propolis. The human nutritional value of pollen and queen (royal) and worker jelly has been of great interest throughout the world. However, there is much doubt as to their real worth. These jellies, larval food synthesized from the digestion of pollen and secreted by the brood food glands of worker bees, have, like pollen, no proven attributes except as bee food. Nevertheless, both are used in various cosmetics, lotions, and dietary supplements. According to Greek mythology the infant Zeus, out of gratitude for the honey that sustained him, gave the honey bee its sting for defense. Because the bee abused this power, Zeus later decreed that the bee must die whenever the sting is used. Perhaps it is ironic that now we have developed the means to milk venom from bees and use this product in medicine. The collection and sale of bee venom is an increasingly popular although extremely limited enterprise. Presently, its greatest use is in the treatment of bee venom hypersensitivity. It is also reported as helpful in reducing the pain caused by certain types of arthritis. Commercial beekeeping has given rise to two additional hive products, namely, the queen and worker honey bees. Worker bees are packaged and sold by the pound by beekeepers who are engaged in this highly specialized form of beekeeping. Packages of worker bees and queens are frequently delivered by the postal service. A package of bees normally contains 0.9 to 1.4 kg (2 to 3 lb) of bees plus a mated queen. Packaged bees are used for establishing new colonies or for replacement of those lost through natural causes or catastrophic events. The selling of honey bee queens is a highly lucrative commercial enterprise. Queens are often advertised as being of a specific genetic origin with certain desirable attributes. These queens are used by beekeepers to requeen existing colonies in which the old queen is failing or was lost. Beekeepers may also expand their businesses with the purchase of additional queens; each new queen is installed in a new colony made by dividing an existing colony in half (the old queen heads up the parent unit
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Product Type:
Honey
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Form:
Liquid
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Processing Type:
Comb Honey
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Place of Origin:
Nigeria
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brown:
brown
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Brand Name:
Nautral pure honey
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