Honey is a gift from the bees of a sweet, thick, sugary solution from the honeydew or the nectar of the flower, herb or tree provides. The most popular honey is made in Greece and is popularly known as Greek honey. In ancient Greek history it was famously known as the “Nectar of the Gods”. The bees put in a lot of hard work to make 1 pound of honey. Bees fly 50-100 flowers per flight and even fly thousands of miles to make an equivalent of 1 pound of honey. They fill their sacks with juice and fly back to the house bees who then take the nectar add enzymes from their bodies which causes the moisture to evaporate and that turns the nectar into honey. The ingredients of varying proportions of fructose, water, glucose, oil are produced and added by the bees.
Ø In
Greek ‘Mele’ is the word for honey and ‘Melissa’ is the word for honey bee.
Ø It
takes the lifetime of 12 bees to make one teaspoon of honey.
Ø Honey
was the food of the Gods of Olympus known as ‘Ambrosia’. It has a plethora of
strong cases of honey.
Ø Greek honey has
specific physical and chemical characteristics as it is unique in color, aroma,
taste and thickness.
Ø It
has the largest mythological tradition in the histories of the world as the
land where the art of beekeeping started.
Ø There
are 40 ancient Greek names for honey containers and innumerable instances in
Greek history where you will find the reference of honey.
Ø Honey
extraction has been a practice in Greece since time unknown. Archaeological
evidence shows that the practice has been in the record since the 5th century
and still continues.
Ø World’s
first cookbook had been authored by Greeks, thousands of years ago where there
is a clear depiction of foods made from the honey like cookies and honey puff
balls.
Ø In
Greek mythology, the “God of Gods” Zeus was raised on honey.
Ø Honey
was the first sweetener used by the Greeks in their diet for the preparation of
sweets and delicacies which made it very popular in ancient Greece.
Health Benefits of GreekHoney –
Ø The
best benefit of Honey is its capability of preventing fatigue and enhancing
athletic performance.
Ø It
is one of the easiest foods to digest and is known for its cancer-fighting
properties.
Ø Rich
in Phenolic compounds it helps in the prevention of osteoporosis and breast
cancer and contains antiviral, antibacterial and antifungal substances.
Ø It
is regarded as a complete food and is known to contain each and everything that
a human body needs.
Honey is regarded as
the best food in the world and the best medicine for the treatment of sore
throats and cough. If mixed with lemon juice and consumed slowly, honey coats
the throat and alleviates discomfort.