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| Sunday, 5 February 2006 |
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Features |  |
| News Business Features Editorial
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Bees and usefulness of honey by D. P. L. Walter Silva Bees are one of nature's precious gifts to man. Biologists believe that they developed many million years before man began to evolve. They are perfect creatures who are endowed with exceptional powers of discernment, five acute senses and an infallible instinct.
Complex life They are relentless workers who cannot be discouraged. If a hive is broken and the honey robbed the starving bees will disperse, reassemble under their queen and will construct a fresh one elsewhere. They are social insects who live an infinitely complex life. The beehive is a precision built architectural masterpiece which is well adapted to the purpose for which it is meant. The cells are hexagonically constructed to save precious wax and to hold the greatest possible amount of honey. It is incomprehensible how bees get all the angles and planes of the hexagon equal. Bees are also selective by nature. When foraging nectar for making honey, they have some mysterious way of checking the quality before harvesting. If the sugar content of nectar in a flower is not up to their required standard, they fly away to others. It is hard for the bee to convert low sugar nectar to honey. The bee symbolises all virtue. It is a divine insect in the little world of its hive where complete order and harmony prevail, it is a perfect subject under a perfect monarch in a perfect society. They do compel our admiration. Save the silkworm, no insect has claimed so large a share of the entomological literature as the honey bee. Nothing now remain unknown about their habits, anatomy and abilities. What has made bees important down the ages is their honey. Honey is a unique product. It is made inside the bee's body using the nectar it sucks. This nectar sucked is converted to the more simple sugars, levulose and dextrose, by the addition of an enzyme secreted by its salivary gland. On return to the hive the bee regurgitates the converted matter into the cells. This is honey and it is predigested sugar. Whereas cane sugar and starches must undergo a process of inversion in our gastro-intestinal tract, honey need not, as the bee has already done it. Chemistry To the veddhas, our primitive people, honey has become part of their culture. They also discovered that it had diverse other uses. The Egyptians too who used honey extensively had a vast knowledge of it. It is now known that they used it to mummify their dead. The veddhas used it to preserve their raw meat. The Egyptians were also the first people to rare bees for honey. An Egyptian clay tablet of 2600 B.C. describes contemporary methods of bee-culture. The chemistry of honey remained unknown until modern chemists analysed and revealed its astonishing array of compounds. Honey is made up of a number of sugars (dextrose, levulose, dextrine, maltose, sucrose) many essential vitamins (B, C etc) traces of protein, salts, acids (formic, acetic, malic, citric, amino) enzymes (invertase, diastase, catalase, inulase) aromatic substances, and minerals (iron, potassium, calcium, magnesium, copper, chlorine, silica). Also B complex components like pantothenic acid, riboflavin, nicotinic acid, thiamine, pyridoxine, biotin and folic acid were found in micrograms per gram. The dark coloured honey is found to be rich in Iron, copper and manganese. Minerals All these compounds are drawn by plants and trees from the soil and conveyed to the nectar of flowers which is the base substance of honey. Therefore, depending on the nutrients in the soil, the mineral composition of honey can vary but not significantly. Though the quantity of minerals in honey is too small, nutritionists assure that it is enough to maintain the body's mineral balance. What the body needs is a lot of minerals in small quantities. Much of the minerals in the food we eat is lost in storage, and cooking under intense heat. For good health it is essential that these are replaced as the composition of the human body is mineral in essence. A table spoonful of honey taken after breakfast will replenish the losses. Medicine These days honey has lost much of its popularity due to the presence of a variety of artificial sweets, vitamins and mineral tonics. But these are of dubious value. The sweets particularly gratify only the taste. Honey on the contrary is a natural food which can be consumed without artificial treatment. It has many advantages: It does not irritate the lining of the digestive tract/ It is easily absorbed being predigested sugar. It is the ideal pre-activity and fatigue recovery tonic for sportsmen. It is a gentle laxative and a sedative. It is also an antiseptic. It will make old age endurable. Honey is also a good medicine. It is extensively used in sidda, ayurveda and unani systems of medicine. It is an effective remedy if eaten regularly, for high blood pressure, sleeplessness, arthritis, coughs, muscle pains, cramps and bed-wetting in children. It is also the only sugar that even diabetics can consume because its levulose component does not raise the blood sugar levels. Of all sugars it is the best tolerated by the kidneys. Honey also has some very special other features. It can be preserved indefinitely. Bacteria does not survive in honey because it is a rich source of potassium. It is a preservative in itself and, therefore, should not be placed in the refrigerator, when storing honey a warm dark place is suggested. The container should be ant-proof. Honey is still the preferred food supplement in western countries. In our country it is used more as a medicine and, sadly, less as a food adjunct. Lack of knowledge of its food value, prohibitive prices, and non-availability are the main causes for this. Genuine Bee-farming is successfully promoted, though on a small scale, by the Dept of Agriculture, Gannoruwa. The farmers supply a small quantity of honey to the market. Gatherers of wild honey particularly in the dry zone and other places also sell honey. Even this total supply is not enough to meet the national demand. Much of the produce is grabbed by the Ayurvedic sector. There is also plenty of fake honey in the market these days. They are made from dates and brown sugar with a wax topping added to look like genuine honey. Some adulterated stuff is also sold. Fake and adulterated honey have a very short shelf-life. There is no foolproof way to check the quality of honey except in the laboratory. Dishonest traders know this and take advantage of it. Now we also have imported honey said to be genuine, but imported artificial variety is also sold. Since honey is chemically a very complex natural product it is beyond imitation. If it is honey you are looking for it is best to avoid the fake, adulterated and artificial stuff. Genuine honey could be purchased from bee-keepers and recognised traders and on the spot from gatherers of wild honey.
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The qualities and behavioral patterns of bees differ very much from those
of other insect species. They avoid all putrid matter. Hence they carry no
harmful bacteria and cause no harm to other living beings. But they will
sting when disturbed. 
