This is why bees are so important for our nutrition, and: is honey really healthy?

It hums and buzzes around us. Everywhere it is teeming with the little yellow and black striped helpers. We want to dedicate today to them. Since today is also the day of foreign words in Germany, we want to start directly with this: "Apiformes" is the Latin name of our bees.

But what do bees have to do with our food?

Pollination

As probably everyone knows, our bees make sure that our diversity of flowers is preserved. But what's that all about?!

Pollination is the reproduction of seed plants, so to speak. But since plants cannot move from one place to another - unlike us living beings - the plant must find a way to distribute its seeds. One possibility is pollination or the distribution of seeds by the wind. Another possibility is distribution by animals. This is where the little bee comes in.

In order to attract the bees, the flower has to be colored or scented to make it look interesting. Besides, of course, it's not enough just to look good. As a further incentive, the bee is also offered a variety of nutritious pollen or sweet nectar. If the bee lands on a flower and uses nectar or pollen, the fine seed dust will stick to its legs.

As it continues its flight and lands on the next flower, it distributes the seeds and the flowers can reproduce.
A beautiful cycle.

Honey

The nectar that the bees ingest is not only consumed by the bees themselves, but also collected by the worker bees to produce the honey we know. For this purpose the nectar is collected in the so-called honey bubble and then released again in the building. Enzymes are added to the nectar during transport, so that at the end of the process the honey is produced.

Blossom honey: the blossom honey is probably the most frequently bought honey in Germany. It has a fine creamy consistency. The honey itself is light yellow and rather mild in taste
Acacia honey: this honey has a very mild and sweet taste and is therefore ideal for sweetening tea or baked goods. It is clearly more liquid in consistency than the previously described blossom honey
Forest honey: with its much stronger and slightly tart taste, forest honey is also very popular. Its consistency is similar to that of acacia honey and its color can be described as rather light to dark brown.

Of course, these three types of honey are only a small excerpt from the repertoire of different possibilities, but these three types are probably the most used or bought.

Honey in food

Now for the tasty part:

Sweetness
First and foremost, honey can be used to sweeten tea, for example, or milk and coffee without having to resort to industrially processed sugars.
Salad dressing
Yeah, you read it right. You can also use honey in salad dressings or in the salad itself. Here you can sweeten it as well as direct the taste in a certain direction.

Baked goods
In addition to this, every good baker uses honey for breakfast as well as for baked goods. Either as spread on bread or also for sweetening or for a certain special taste.

Is honey healthy?

Anyone who is or has been involved in healthy eating will inevitably have come across the idea that honey should be used as a healthy alternative to industrial sugar from sugar cane.

But because of the different kinds of sugar like fructose, glucose, saccharose etc. it is about as calorie-rich as the cane sugar itself. But because of the fructose in honey, it has a sweeter taste and less quantity is used to produce the same taste.

Also, honey has the property, in contrast to the conventional sugar, that it contains anti-inflammatory substances, which can be helpful for example with gastro-intestinal complaints or colds. Also, the antioxidants contained in honey have a positive effect on the cardiovascular system and thus also prevent diseases.

Desserts with honey

Homemade or in the restaurant; here are some desserts that cannot do without honey:

Greek yoghurt with honey:
Enhanced with fruits (e.g. figs or apricots) or nuts, this simple dish can be enjoyed at home or at the Greek restaurant.

Baklava:
This Mediterranean dish made of puff pastry and with a garnish of pistachios is also difficult to imitate or enjoy without honey.
Turkish honey:
Wie schon der Name sagt, ist eine der Hauptzutaten hier der Honig, insbesondere Waldhonig. Mit etwas Eischnee und Früchten ist dieser auch super schnell zuhause gezaubert.

Honey wine:
The honey also has something to offer for the lovers of alcohol: Mead has about 11 - 16 % by volume and can be drunk both warm and cold.

For the sweet tooth: Honey wafers are also super fine. :)