FAQs

Honey

Honey bee workers carry out the process of collecting nectar from flowers and other sources of sugary solutions in the plant, and the copulating bees do this and then store it in their second stomach specially designed for storing honey and called honey stomach) until returning to the community. When they arrive at the hive, they hand over the nectar to the beekeepers, who receive this nectar and secrete enzymes on it, then transfer it to the hexagonal eyes intended for honey to complete the settling and ripening processes by reducing moisture in it and complete the conversion of nectar into mature honey, then the fully matured hexagonal eyes are closed by the workers .

Pollen Grains

The process of collecting pollen is carried out by the entry of honey bee workers into the flowers and the adhesion of pollen to the hairs surrounding the body, then the Bee works through a pair of front legs equipped with a brush-like combing the antennae of the pollen suspended from it and transferring it to the pair of middle legs, the pair of middle legs comb, Transferring what he has collected and what has moved from the front legs to the hind legs, the worker collects all the pollen in a pollen basket specially equipped for packing pollen on the hind legs and moistens it with nectar from her stomach to stick together, this load was returned to be placed in the hexagonal eyes intended for pollen. Which is in the form of layers of pollen, honey and worker saliva to ferment this mixture to produce a bee bread product after a few days.

Wooden, plastic or non-rusting metal tools only

Because honey reacts with metals, producing harmful substances.

Nutritional content

Bee honey is a supersaturated solution of sugars, where the amount of sugars in it is approximately 80%, including 40% fructose, 30% glucose, 5% sucrose and about 5% maltose honey is rich in sugars, so it is a good source of food rich in energy, in addition to containing small percentages of amino acids, protein, fats and mineral elements.

Therapeutic content

There is no doubt that the chemical composition makes Honey a special therapeutic and preventive role, the high concentration of sugars with the presence of moisture in honey makes it a substance capable of moisturizing the skin and retaining moisture, especially in burns, wounds and ulcers, which helps it to heal characteristically.

In addition to the reflection of the plant content on the total honey from certain plants, it transfers chemical compounds to honey (especially secondary compounds in the plant), which have many and diverse therapeutic properties, as well as the presence of pollen in honey is a therapeutic addition to honey.

From a scientific point of view

The process of detecting natural honey cheating is a difficult process because the substances used in cheating are similar in composition to the chemical composition found in honey, such as adding glucose or fructose honey or feeding with a sugary solution intensively, and the resulting liquid is similar to natural honey, especially in its natural qualities, so it is important to rely on chemical analysis in addition honey as part of the image and by completing various analyzes, this image is completed to give a complete picture of the quality, quality and fraud of honey.

From a practical point of view

• Tests based on natural qualities such as the viscosity of honey, its moisture content and others are not relied upon.
• Relying on experience to judge the quality of honey is not available to many, so it needs beekeepers with great experience to judge this.
• Relying on the bodies that carry out chemical analysis to judge the quality and fraud of honey or the bodies that market honey after analyzing and approving its quality.

The optimal temperatures for the storage process depend on several other factors, including the type of packaging in which Honey is kept and the length of exposure to temperatures , but in general it is preferable to keep honey at room temperatures (25 degrees Celsius) under good storage conditions and of course lower temperatures than that can increase the storage periods of honey and slow down the chemical transformation processes that occur in honey, but low temperatures may help the process of granularity of honey, which is a quality that may not be desirable for some consumers,

It is not recommended to use high temperatures because it will accelerate the chemical transformations in honey and affect its nutritional value negatively.

It is not preferable to expose honey to direct light for long periods of time, Honey exposure to direct and continuous light may affect its effectiveness, especially its effect as an antibacterial or bactericidal, so it must be in dark containers or be in places far from the light source.

The sun’s Rays also have a negative impact on the safety of honey. Because under the influence of light, it accelerates the chemical transformation processes in honey, its components change, and it becomes less quality and less effective.

Does the crystallization of honey mean that it is adulterated?

Crystallization of honey does not mean that it is adulterated and many people think that crystallized honey is spoiled or adulterated honey. However, the truth is completely different. Pure, raw and unheated honey tends to crystallize or granulate over time. This phenomenon is a natural feature in honey, but it is one of the most important qualities of pure honey and does not affect the quality of honey or reduce its benefits. Contrary to what some people think, many types of honey are amenable to crystallization as a result of natural and chemical factors.

How to eat crystallized honey

Crystallized honey is characterized by easily distribution than liquid honey. Crystallized honey can be used as a sweetener in drinks and bread, and it is also good for use as a paste for individual on toast, biscuits and other foods, and it can be converted into liquid honey again by placing it in a water bath with temperatures not exceeding 40 degrees Celsius for a short time.

What is meant by organic honey is that honey collected from bee communities that have not been treated with industrial or chemical substances such as pesticides or industrial antibiotics in honey bee communities, as well as nectar collected from plants resulting from this honey should not be treated with any chemical or industrial substances such as pesticides and others and should not be genetically modified.

There is no doubt that the availability of these conditions is often difficult and there are many bodies and institutions that are interested in setting rules and requirements for the production of organic honey.

Of course, the type of honey is a direct reflection of the total plant, including the nectar for the production of this honey, and therefore, depending on the plant, the chemical composition and vital activity of the honey differs, the multiplicity of species causes a multiplicity of benefits and may make some honey distinctive in some qualities from others, for example, citrus honey is distinguished by its many, many species, whose composition and biological impact differ.

Is there an Egyptian standard specification for honey bees?

Of course, there is a standard specification for Egyptian honey bees that was developed through the Egyptian Organization for specifications and quality and was prepared by various parties, including the faculties of Agriculture, the Department of chemistry and the Bee Research department, and is being updated periodically and continuously.

And where can it be obtained

It can be obtained by going to the Egyptian General Authority for specifications and Quality (16 train of trainers St. – Amiriya – Cairo) to get a paper copy of the peer-to-peer for money, and you can email the authority’s website to get an electronic copy of the peer-to-peer for money as well.

Of course, honey can be stored at temperatures lower than room temperatures, and this preserves its ingredients for longer periods, but low temperatures help the granulation process in honey, which is a quality that may not be desirable for some consumers.

There are many bodies that are interested in honey bees and study it, and you can go to them to inquire, of course, including the faculties of Agriculture, the National Research Center and the Agricultural Research Center ( Bee Research department) and of course each of these bodies has a special department for the study of honey bees and its products ( Bee and food industries departments).

There are many regulatory authorities on bee honey product as a food product sold in the markets, the most important of which are the Ministry of supply and the National Food Safety Authority, which is interested in setting a set of conditions to ensure that processed or traded food in the market complies with the best standards of food safety and public health and the Food Safety Department of the Ministry of Health.

Feeding honey bees with sugary solutions is a necessary behavior to preserve the life of bees, especially in winter, when there is a lack of vegetable pastures and low temperatures that may prevent bees from leaving their hives. It may be necessary to use an energizing feed for the bees of the communities, alerting them to the beginning of the season and encouraging them to go out to collect nectar, and the amount of this nutrition is an important factor to keep the bees from them and to maintain the quality of honey.

Maintaining the quality of the resulting honey can be achieved by placing a quantity of sugar solution sufficient for the community and allowing it to store a small amount of honey in the winter season because the cells are opened only at intervals and of course the amount depends on the size of the community ,but in general 0.5 liters of sugar solution concentration (1 water:1 sugar) may be enough to achieve this purpose.

As for the revitalizing nutrition , the crew is given an amount sufficient for the consumption of bees and does not allow them to store and this is monitored well during the inspection, and in general, 0.25 liters of a concentrated sugar solution (2 water:1 sugar) may suffice.if the beginning of the storage of honey in the fields is observed, the feeding is stopped completely, and of course sugar feeding is not allowed during the flood seasons.

Bee honey is characterized as a food material characterized by high stability in its changes and may be used to preserve other food materials and it can be preserved for many years, but this is provided that good storage conditions are available, and the official authorities require the honey producers to have a maximum shelf life of 3 years.

Honey may not need to be filtered if it has been matured for a long enough time ,and the severe filtration process is undesirable because it reduces the presence of pollen in honey, but packaging companies prefer the filtration process so that the resulting honey form is very magnificent and the disposal of substances that encourage the phenomenon of granularity of honey, which negatively affects the marketing of the product and the use of accurate filters for honey can force packaging companies to use heat to speed up the filtration process there are many refineries to achieve the filtration process with different diameters and degrees graduated with diameters of 18mesh, then followed by a 25mesh filter (100 microns then 710 microns)

The temperatures that honey is preferred to have are the room temperature of 25 degrees Celsius, and if necessary to convert granulated honey into liquid honey, a temperature of 40 degrees Celsius can be used. it should be noted that the effect of temperatures depends on a fundamental factor is the duration of exposure to this heat, and the shorter the exposure time and the lower the temperatures, the better.

It is the same data listed for packaged foods in general (product name clearly and specifically/brand and address of the Producing Company/production date/expiration date/mention of the country of origin/net weight/appropriate storage conditions for the product.