All About Honey
People have used honey in traditional medicine for hundreds of years. This sweet, natural substance contain healthful elements that processed honey does not have. Honey provides a range of health benefits. Raw honey, which comes straight from the beehive, contains healthful bee pollen, bee propolis, and plenty of antioxidants. Honey is a sweet, golden liquid made by honeybees. Honey bees store their honey in small, hexagonal cups called a honeycomb. Raw honey comes straight from the honeycomb.
The Greeks used honey in a variety of ways: considered the food of the gods, it was often used in the preparation of cakes, which were a part of religious ceremonies and sacrifices in honor of the gods. According to myth, Melissa (the etymology of which is linked to the name "bee" and "honey"), daughter of the king of Crete, nourished Zeus with the honey of the bee Panacride. Aristophanes wrote that the honey cakes were a prize for athletes who won races and Pythagoras suggested his followers eat bread and honey because would guarantee a long and healthy life.
For the Romans,honey was the ideal sweetener and it was imported from Crete, Cyprus, Malta and Spain. It was used raw and cooked in preparing desserts, beer, preserves and MEAD, a beverage produced by the fermentation of honey diluted with water, the drink of the gods and heroes oft he past.
Abandoned for a long time in favor of sugar cane, honey has today been rediscovered for its nutritional and therapeutic and continues to offer an invaluable glue among history, nature and nutrition.
As a natural, live food, honey has been a concentrated sweetness for thousands of years. Not only a food, it has many medical properties and throughout history has been part of rituals and been ascribed cultural values in almost all areas of the world. Ancient, highly prized and special, honey is one of the foods that best represents the relationship between Man and Nature over time.