There are many different qualities, flavors, colors, types and styles of honey. Honey gets its flavor and nutritional properties from the nectar of the flowers that the bees visit. While honey is a great natural and nutrional product, it should never be fed to babies. Honey is safe for children over 12 months of age. The dormant spores could be very harmful to an infants undeveloped intestinal tract. Be sure to keep your honey stored in cool, dry place and in an air tight container.

Bees use honey as a food source. Bee keepers harvest the extra honey for us to eat. Honey contains vitamins, minerals, flavonoids and antioxidents and should be substituted for white, granulated sugar whenever it is possible. Honey may also be used to treat a variety of ailments through topical application. Honey is antiseptic, antimicrobial, antiviral, antifungal and antibacterial. Honey wound gels that have been approved for wound care are available to help western medicine in the battle against drug resistant strains of Staph and reduce odors, scarring and swelling. Honey is also great for coughs and sore throats, especially buckwheat honey. Honeydew melon honey has high levels of antioxidants

Honey improves athletic performance and is also an ergogenic aid. Darker honeys created from buckwheat flowers, sage as well as tupelo do contain a larger amount of antioxidants than lighter honeys. Raw and unprocessed honey contains the widest variety of health supporting substances. Heating honey can kill the delicate enzymes. Honey is also helpful in lowering cholesterol and for people with Type 2 Diabetes.

When worker honey bees.. all 20,000 to 40,000 of them and all female, are about 20 days old, they leave their hive and collect nectar. These bees only live for 3 - 6 weeks. Each bee collects about one teaspoon of nectar in her lifetime with her tongue. When she fills up, she returns to her hive and deposits it into the honeycomb cells.