Some Uses of Honey
The bees mix the honey with pollen to feed the larva. They also eat it themselves to get energy (fuel) to do their work. Worker bees must feed honey to the queen bee and drones. The queen and drones cannot feed themselves. Without honey as food, the colony of bees would die.
Preknowledge: Interesting facts
Most honey is good to eat, but honey can look and taste very different. Honey gets its colour and taste from the flowers that the nectar comes from. Some plants make light nectar. Others make dark nectar. Sometimes the honey can get dark in colour if it is left in the hive for a long time (this is another reason to check your hives regularly). Some people like light-coloured honey and others like honey that is dark. Most honeys in the Solomon Islands are a blend of different nectar because of all the different flowers that the bees collect nectar from.
One of the main reasons people keep bees is so they can harvest the honey. Humans have many uses for honey:
- To eat – bees need to eat honey but people like to eat it too. Honey is tasty spread on crackers, toast or bread.
- To drink – some people like to put honey in their hot drinks. They use honey instead of using sugar. Some say that using honey instead of sugar in bush lime is also tasty.
- To cook – when you are cooking or baking, honey can be used to sweeten your recipes instead of sugar. When you use honey in your recipes, you do not need as much liquid because the honey has water in it.
- For medicine – honey can be used to treat many different kinds of sickness:
- Sore throats – mix honey with bush lime and water to take away the pain of a sore throat. Sometimes singers use this to sweeten their voices before they sing!
- Fungal diseases – some people put honey on skin diseases, such as fungus, to help cure it.
- Small cuts, burns or boils – you can put honey on these with a fresh plaster to help heal the sore.
- Some types of honey are good for stomach ulcers.
- To sell – often bee farmers will sell their extra honey in order to make money. Some beekeepers decide to sell all their honey. In the next lesson you will learn about some of the places you can sell your honey.
Activity: Honey recipes