Honey Facts
Honey is a made by honey bees from nectar, a sugary substance which plants produce at the flower to attract bees and other insects to facilitate the transfer of pollen from the male part of the flower to the female part of that flower or another flower of that plant (auto-pollination) or another flower of another plant of the same species (cross-pollination). Pollination is the single most important service honey bees provide to the natural and agricultural system. This is ever more relevant as populations of pollinators have dwindeled so significantly in the last two decades as a result of the use and abuse of agrochemicals, deforestation and lack of sensible management of the natural and agricultural ecosystem. During the visit to the flower bees collects pollen and nectar, sometimes, just nectar or pollen, and carry it into the colony where it is shared with other members and subjected to a long slow process of evaporation, in which water is removed and sugars concentrated from around 20% in nectar to about 80% in honey. It is the combination of high sugar concentration, low water content and low pH, which inhibits fermentation by wild yeast, and the growth and reproduction of other undesirable microorganisms. Other natural plant substances may be present in honey which also inhibit the growth of microorganisms, but they vary between plant species and therefore honeys. The fact that in the tropics nectar from so many different plant species contribute to a honey harvest increase the likelihood of a person benefiting from consuming phytochemicals and other plant originated nutrients. In addition, microelements are obtained by the plant from the soil and incorported into the nectar. Some of these plant substances like polyphenols, enzymes, proteins, vitamins and minerals from the soil may contribute to increase the wellbeing of a person when honey is consumed in its natural or raw state, that is, unprocessed and unheated. Heated (pasteurized) and filtered honey is still a natural sweetener with natural colorings, but it is devoided of most of the above mentioned benefits. Other issues to consider when you are interested in consuming honey in its natural unadulterated state is whether the beekeeper who produces it, does not use any agro-chemicals in the treatment of bee diseases and parasites. Or that either the beekeeper or the packer/processor did not mix the honey with adulterating substances like high fructose corn syrup or any of the sugar syrups that may be currently manufactured.It makes sense to obtain and consume honey that is as close as possible to what the bees collect from plants. At Neo-Musa we are comited to provide you with just that.
A note of caution: Honey like any raw agricultural product should not be feed to infants less than a year old, as they do not have a completely developed and therefore functional immune system.
