Honey: Everything you wanted to know about what it's made of, plus how to use it

The honey shelves at the supermarket astonish me now that I keep bees.

To make one pound of honey, a colony has to fly 55,000 miles, according to the National Honey Board. A single worker bee produces just 1/12th of a teaspoon of honey in her entire life. And much of the honey a hive makes it needs to keep itself going — which is why I can't harvest from my two colonies this year.

So how can we have so much there on the shelf? In little packets at a hotel breakfast line?

After you're done boggling, read on for more facts about the delicious amber stuff, plus recipes.

What is honey?

You probably don’t want to think about this, but honey is nectar plus bee bile.

The following info comes from “Bee-sentials: A Field Guide” and the Durham County Beekeepers Association’s 2022 Bee School, of which I am a graduate.

Flower nectar is primarily very diluted sucrose — roughly 80% water, though it varies. Bees sip the nectar and hold it in their crops, where enzymes begin converting it into glucose and fructose. The exact balance depends on the nectar source.

The bee then, frankly, barfs the nectar into the mouth of another bee, which does the same to another, to a bee that deposits the liquid into a honeycomb cell. The colony then draws out moisture to concentrate the nectar into the thick syrup we know and love. Finished honey is about 17% water.

At proper moisture levels, honey keeps indefinitely, though most eventually crystallizes.

Why does comb honey cost more?

It takes a LOT of nectar to make honeycomb — eight times as much as honey, according to the Durham County Beekeepers Association, of which I am a member. When you extract liquid honey, you leave the comb for the bees to reuse. Every chunk of comb you remove and put into a jar depletes your next honey crop.

Can eating local honey lessen pollen allergies?

Alas, this is a myth, according to the Asthma and Allergy Foundation of America and the National Institutes of Health.

Dr. Mitchell Grayson, allergy and immunology chief at Nationwide Children’s Hospital, clarified.

• There’s no reason to think that honey should help with allergies at all. It’s made from nectar, and people are allergic to pollen.

• Although honey can have pollen in it, typically, insect-pollinated plants are not the ones whose pollen causes allergies. Allergies are caused by plants that are wind-pollinated. That’s the pollen that’s in the air (and on our cars), that we breathe in.

Any benefit is likely the placebo effect, Grayson said.

As for bee pollen, which you can buy and eat, it contains nutrients that theoretically are good for us (and are not the kind of pollen that causes hay fever). But benefits have not been proven clinically, according to Michigan State University. Also you want to make sure it hasn’t been adulterated or contaminated.

Can I feed honey to babies?

Don’t. The American Academy of Pediatrics says wait until children are a year old to avoid the risk of infant botulism.

Is honey healthier than ordinary table sugar?

"Honey definitely is healthier than other sweeteners, since they contain a lot more than just sugar," said David Tarpy, North Carolina State University extension apiculturist. It has "antimicrobial properties, among other things, that make honey useful beyond just making things sweet.

Kim Allen and Jillian Kelly, owners of the Asheville Bee Charmer, also say yes. However, they shy away from making any health claims about any kind of honey. “Once you start claiming all this stuff, people tend to come unglued,” Allen said.

What’s the deal with manuka honey?

You may have seen gushing reports about manuka honey from various wellness sources. This honey comes from the manuka tree, native to New Zealand and Australia. Chemically, it has unusually high levels of methylglyoxal, and it has strong antimicrobial power, according to researchers at University of Technology Sydney.

However, the antibacterial effect is clear when you apply manuka honey externally to wounds. Any benefits from eating manuka honey are less clear.

Furthemore, Tarpy said, "There is likely more similarities in the health benefits of all honeys compared to table sugar than there are differences among honey types. There’s just been a lot more empirical research on manuka honey so that they can market it better and sell it at a premium."

Beyond that, caveat emptor, warned Allen, the Asheville honey vendor: “There’s a lot of fake manuka honey.”

How worried do I have to be about adulterated honey?

It does happen, and it’s food fraud. The Food and Drug Association routinely tests a sampling of imported honey; 10% of samples failed in 2021-22.

Beware particularly of … apparently this is a thing … honey syrups marketed as X-rated aids, which are increasingly testing positive for prescription drugs, the FDA says.

If honey is labeled with a flower source — tupelo, sourwood, etc. — federal guidelines say the beekeeper must have evidence that said flower is the “chief floral source of the honey.”

How does honey taste?

Not just sweet! The University of California, Davis developed a honey tasting wheel identifying close to 100 flavors. The American Honey Tasting Society has a simplified wheel: warm, fruity, floral, fresh, vegetal, animal (gamey), woody, chemical and spoiled. You can take the society’s basic honey-tasting course in Bologna, Italy, (be still my heart). The Planet Bee Foundation has instructions for an at-home honey tasting.

How do I deal with crystallized honey?

You can just use it as is. If you want to liquefy it, do so in a closed glass jar in a gentle, warm water bath. Heating honey too much can change its flavors and destroy some enzymes.

What do I need to know to bake with honey?

Do not substitute one-for-one. Honey is sweeter than sugar and, obviously, wetter. King Arthur’s tips:

• Decrease the sweetener by about 1/4.

• Decrease the liquid by 3-4 tablespoons per cup.

• If your recipe has no liquid, add 3-4 tablespoons flour per cup of honey used.

• Don’t use honey in recipes baked at over 350 degrees — it will scorch.

Read the King Arthur blog post to see the team's results testing honey as a sugar substitute in a variety of baked goods.

Are bee colonies still randomly dying everywhere?

Not in the way you think. In the mid-aughts there was a lot of talk about “colony collapse disorder.” That problem has declined significantly, according to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. The big issue now is the varroa mite. These mites don’t kill bees, but they weaken bees so they are susceptible to other threats. Close to four in 10 hives died over last winter, according to the Bee Informed Partnership.

Fun facts

• The honeybee is Tennessee’s official state agricultural insect, according to the state Department of Agriculture’s website.

• Beeswax residue has been found in 3,500-year-old pottery from what is now Nigeria, according to a paper in Nature Communications. “Honey and other bee products were likely a sought-after foodstuff for much of human history,” the researchers write.

• U.S. commercial honey production totaled 125 million pounds in 2022, according to the USDA. The highest producer? North Dakota. That counts only farms that sell at least $1,000 worth of products per year, so not your neighbor.

Recipes

Honey tapenade

Courtesy of David Fruchtenicht, North Carolina beekeeper and honey vendor with 50-plus years’ experience.

• 2 cups pitted Kalamata olives

• 1/4 cup honey

• 1/4 cup sun-dried tomatoes

• 1 bell pepper

• Olive oil

• Salt and pepper to taste

Cut up the bell pepper and the sun-dried tomatoes as needed for the food processor. Grind everything in the food processor, drizzling in olive oil to desired texture. Season to taste.

Fruchtenicht says: “This is a modification of a recipe from Ida Kelley, wife of Walter T. Kelley, famous in bee circles for running the Walter T. Kelley Co., manufacturer and distributer of bee supplies in Clarkson, Ky., from 1924 to 1986.”

Barbeque sauce

From “The Asheville Bee Charmer Cookbook”; used with permission of shop owners Kim Allen and Jillian Kelly.

• 1 cup low-sodium, organic ketchup

• 1/4 cup buckwheat honey

• 2 tablespoons each: apple cider vinegar, sambal oelek, Asheville Bee Charmer Smokin’ Hot Honey (or other chipotle-infused honey)

• 1 tablespoon orange juice

• 1/2 tablespoon Worcestershire sauce

• 1/2 teaspoon each: ground cumin, onion powder, garlic powder, black pepper

Whisk together all ingredients. Make at least 4 hours ahead for the flavors to meld. Store in an airtight container in the refrigerator for up to one month. Makes about 1-3/4 cups.

Infused honey simple syrups

Courtesy of the National Honey Board.

• 1 cup water

• 1 cup honey

• Flavoring: 1 vanilla bean OR 3 cinnamon sticks OR 5 T dried lavender

Boil the water. Add flavor agent, then honey. Bring back to a boil, reduce heat and simmer for 5 minutes. Let sit 2 weeks before using in a cocktail or mocktail. The National Honey Board says it can be stored in the refrigerator or at room temperature; I myself would go for the fridge.

Hippie face gunk

I legit use this as my daily cleanser. In a short, wide-mouthed container, combine 1 tablespoon honey, 1 teaspoon baking soda and 1/4 cup olive oil. Stir to combine. Apply a swipe to wet skin; rub gently. Remove with a damp washcloth.

Dried fruit bar (with honey)

From "School Lunch Recipes Using Honey," U.S. Bureau of Human Nutrition and Home Economics, rev. 1949. Makes 100, 1-ounce portions (for reference, Larabars are 1.6 ounces).

• 1 quart pitted prunes

• 1 quart raisins

• 1 pound dried peaches

• 1-1/4 pounds nuts

• 1 T salt

• 1-2/3 cup honey

Grind dried fruits three times. Coarsely grind or chop nuts. Mix thoroughly, on low speed, in mixer using the beater. Press into two greased 8x12 inch pans and chill, preferably overnight. Cut into 100 pieces (or however many you want) and roll each piece in coconut, fine graham cracker crumbs or crushed cornflakes.

Danielle Dreilinger is an American South storytelling reporter and the author of the book “The Secret History of Home Economics.” She regrets not taking her Certified Beekeeper written exam right after Bee School last year. You can reach her at ddreilinger@gannett.com or 919/236-3141.

This article originally appeared on The American South: Honey facts and recipes: Health, science, safety and eats