Celebrate Sweet, Sweet Honey

August 17, 2024, is National Honeybee Day. Celebrate this great natural sweetener in cooking or in other ways. My favorite is honey with hot biscuits, or if calories allow, it’s even better with hot buttered biscuits.

But what do we really know about this sweet treat from honeybees?

Can you correctly answer the following true or false questions?

1. Honey is made up mostly of sucrose.

2. Honey is one and a half times sweeter than table sugar.

3. One tablespoon of honey has more calories than one tablespoon of sucrose (table sugar).

4. Most honey in the United States is produced in the South.

5. Honey is noted as being a good cough suppressant.

Like table sugar (sucrose), honey contains both glucose and fructose. However, sucrose has about equal amounts of these two simple sugars, whereas honey is about 40% fructose and 30% glucose. The remainder of honey is made up of water (about 18%), other carbohydrates, and approximately 2% nutrients (vitamins and minerals).

Honey is about 1½ times sweeter than table sugar. However, one tablespoon of honey has more calories than one tablespoon of table sugar. So why does honey have more calories for the same measured amount of sugar yet taste sweeter? Honey has a higher density than sugar. A tablespoon of table sugar weighs 16 grams whereas honey weighs 28 grams.

Honey is produced in all 50 states, but the leading producer is North Dakota. The hot temperatures of the South reduce the activities of the bees. The warm days and cool nights of summer in North Dakota make it ideal for the bees’ production of honey. In 2023, those busy bees in that state produced 38.3 million pounds of honey.

Advantages and Disadvantages of Honey

 One advantage of honey is its keeping quality which is indefinite. It can last for decades when properly stored. Honey also has a downside. It should not be given to infants and children under one year of age. Although rare, honey can become contaminated by spores from Clostridium botulinum through dust, water, or pollen carried into the hive. The spores produce the toxin botulism which can be fatal to those with very weak immune systems.

While there are warnings about poisoning, honey also has a few notable health benefits. It is great as a cough suppressant. Although it should not be used in those under one year of age, honey can be a great help to older children and adults to thin mucus and congestion. Honey has also shown promise for those with asthma. While no strong evidence exists when used alone, it has shown substantial effectiveness in patients with asthma when used in combination with other substances. Such findings could help with lower costs of treatments and better outcomes.

Enjoy this wonderful sugar whether with hot biscuits or in numerous dishes. The family will love it.

Quiz Answers:
1.  FALSE
2.  TRUE
3.  TRUE
4.  FALSE
5.  TRUE