Facts About Honey

1. Honey can only be tested for its purity by chemical analysis (laboratory investigation).
2. Color {dark or light), consistency(thin or thick), taste and smell vary according to the area and season of collection.
3. Granulation of honey(crystallization, solidification) is natural phenomenon specially in cold atmosphere so DO NOT REFRIGERATE HONEY.
4. Honey will not spoil in ideal condition. (Hygienic Harvesting, Handling, Filtering and Storage)
5. Total production of honey in India per year is 70,000 tonnes per year.
   (Data from honey conference held at delhi2006)Total forest and tree cover area in India is 7,78,229 sq km ie 23.68% of country geographical area-forest department report 2003) 

Myths and Facts about Honey

• Myth: Pure honey is not or rarely available these days
  • Fact: Production of natural honey in India is more than 70,000 tons per year .of which 25000 tons of honey is exported. The demand of honey in India is lot more than the production therefore lot of adulterated honey is commonly marketed in India of which most common now a days is invert sugar. The need of the hour is to know the correct method to determine purity of honey.
• Myth: Honey can easily be tested for its purity by conventional (household) methods like
• Slowly dropping honey is a glass of water pure honey settles in the bottom without dissolving .
• Dog will not eat bread if pure honey is applied on it
• Cotton wetted with honey will not carbon smoke when burnt
• Honey will burn rapidly
• If applied on eye burn will be more if honey is pure
  • Fact: All these tests analyze only the physical nature of the honey . The most common adulterated honey (invert sugar) passes most of the age old method of testing honey as its physical nature is very close to honey.
    Honey can only be tested for its purity by chemical analysis (laboratory test).
• Myth: Pure honey does not crystallize (granulate or solidify).if honey turned to solid or crystal for it is impure or adulterated.
  • Fact: Within few week to few months of extraction many varieties of honey crystallize into cream colored solid. Few varieties crystallize early (few weeks ) few will take months to granulate .crystallization an be delayed by proper processing and filtration of honey ,Rate of crystallization also depends on atmospheric temperature lesser the temperature faster will be crystallization hence it is always advised not keep honey in refrigerator .one can find this sentence over the label of every brands of honey.
    DO NOT REFRIGIARATE HONEY IT TENDS TO CRYSTALIZE ESPECIALLY IN COLD ATMOSPHERE .TO LIQUIFY KEEP IN WARM WATER OR UNDER SULIGHT
    Crystallization does not affect the flavor, quality or nutritional content of honey. Honey that has crystallize over time (or commercially purchased crystallized) in home can be returned to liquid state if stirred in a container sitting in warm water (49degree centigrade ) or by keeping it under sunlight.
• Myth: Light color honey is of superior quality.
  • Fact: Colour of honey ranges from very light watery color to dark amber color.the color of honey depends on the area and season of collection .irrespective of color all types of honey has almost same nutritional and medicinal value
• Myth: Honey which is thick (don’t flow easily) is of good quality.
  • Fact: Honey contains moisture level ranging from 18% to 24% ( depending on time and season of collection) less the moisture thicker will be the honey the only difference between thick & thin honey is its moisture content other nutrition content will be the same .few brands of honey are deliberately made thick ( by processing) to be more appealing in the market.
    Honey appears thinner in summer season because of its elevated temperature
• Myth: Only small be has medicinal value.
  • Fact: In India there are mainly four types of honey bees Apis Dorsata, apis mellifera, apis cerena indica, and apis florea. All bees have same process of making honey that is collect nectar from flowers and by a process of regurgitation convert it to honey. basically there is no qualitative difference in the honey, all types will have almost same nutritional and medicinal value, the only difference between the different bees is of quantity of honey production.
• Myth: Honey will not spoil in any condition.
  • Fact: Honey will not spoil if properly harvested (if the moisture content is less than 20%), handled & stored (only in glass or stainless steel container), otherwise honey tends to ferment and produce acidic smell, Honey will darken with age.