Liquid gold | Honey

Honey is produced by bees as a form of storage for the winter months, though beekeepers have developed methods of making the bees produce excess honey that can be used for human consumption.  

Through a process of regurgitation and partial digestion nectar collected from flowers is transformed into honey and stored in honeycomb cells. However as the honey is still high in water content and natural yeasts sugars in the honey begin to ferment at this stage. In the hive bees continuously fan the honey with their wings, enhancing evaporation and preventing the fermentation process. Ripe honey, as removed from the hive by a beekeeper, has a long shelf life, and will not ferment if properly sealed.

The main uses for honey are in cooking, baking and as a spread or as an addition to beverages such as tea and as a sweetener in some commercial beverages.

Nutritionally, honey is made up of a variety of sugars including fructose, glucose, sucrose and maltose as well as trace amounts of vitamins, minerals and antioxidants. It is a healthier choice than sugar as, though it contains more calories than table sugar, the sugars are simple and do not need to be broken down before the body can absorb them, giving honey a healthier glycemic index.

Honey is classified by the floral source of the nectar from which it is made. It can be from specific flower nectars, from indeterminate origin or blended after collection.

To produce monofloral honey, beekeepers have to ensure that bees have access to only one type of flower, though due to difficulties in containing the bees a small proportion of honey will be from the additional nectar of other flowers. European examples of monofloral honey include thyme, thistle, heather, acacia, dandelion, sunflower, honeysuckle and varieties from lime and chestnut trees. Most commercial honey is blended after collection.

The Maltese islands have been famous for their unique blended and spicy  honey since ancient times.

The characteristics of Maltese honey are attributed to the vast range of wild flowers within the Maltese Islands. The honey is a blend of the seasonal flora, and not of just one particular crop, although the largest amount of pollen and nectar that influences the taste, include wild thyme, citrus and carob. About 1000 species of mostly wild flora flowers are identified in Malta like; Wild Thyme, White Clover, Bitumen Clover, White Mustard, and Borage. The carob, citrus and stone fruit trees also help to give the honey a more special taste.

Bees may travel as far as 5 miles away from their hive and visit more than two hundred flowers to gather enough nectar to make just a drop of honey.

The honey bee is known to have inhabited the Maltese Islands for centuries and a sub-species has been identified as different from other Mediterranean bees being slightly smaller in size, dark in colour with apparently no yellow bands, incredibly resistant to diseases, viscous and highly active.

High-quality honey can be distinguished by fragrance, taste, and consistency.

Ripe, freshly collected, high-quality honey at 20°C (68°F) should flow from a knife in a straight stream, without breaking into separate drops.After falling down, the honey should form a bead. The honey, when poured, should form small, temporary layers that disappear fairly quickly, indicating high viscosity.

If not, it indicates excessive water content (over 20%)of the product. Honey with excessive water content is not suitable for long-term preservation

In jars, fresh honey should appear as a pure, consistent fluid, and should not set in layers. Within a few weeks to a few months of extraction, many varieties of honey crystallize into a cream-colored solid.

A fluffy film on the surface of the honey (like a white foam), or marble-colored or white-spotted crystallization on a containers sides, is formed by air bubbles trapped during the bottling process.