As we enter the month of love and all things sweet, let’s have a closer look at HONEY.

My husband took up bee keeping a few years ago and it has been a fascinating learning experience – from settling bees into new hives to our first honey harvest in 2022. We have realized that consumers are not always sure if the honey available on the shelves in supermarkets is real/pure. Interestingly, bees only produce enough honey worldwide to satisfy 50% of the demand, so there is definitely questionable practice out there involving blending and incorrect labelling to meet the ever increasing demand for honey.

Honey is a naturally sweet, healthy substance produced by honey bees from the nectar or secretions of plants. It contains natural sugar (fructose and glucose) so is sweeter than table sugar meaning less is required. Honey contains minerals, vitamins, pollen and protein so honey eaten from a local source can help lessen allergies. Honey comes in a whole range of colours from golden to brown depending on the food source as well as the length of time that honey remained ‘maturing’ in the hive. It is believed that the darker the colour of the honey, the higher the mineral content – in our experience darker honey tends to crystallize less.

Honey has an indefinite shelf life if stored correctly. Did you know that honey found in one of the Pharoah’s tombs was perfectly edible after thousands of years! Honey can be frozen to prevent it crystallizing. Only pure honey crystallizes, so if you have a jar of crystallized honey it’s a good sign! Standing the jar of crystallized honey in a bowl of hot water will dissolve the crystals allowing for better viscosity.

Honey bottle labels should have the words words raw/pure/choice grade. Honey should originate in only one country (eg Product of South Africa). Honey labelled as nectar/syrup is most likely honey flavoured sugar water! If a honey label states that it is a product of any combination of countries you can’t be sure that it is pure.

Honey is best stored in glass bottles so that there can be no leaching of chemicals from plastic containers into the honey.

Honey is hygroscopic so it can absorb moisture. Moisture absorption can cause honey to ferment, so make sure the container you buy has a good seal on it.

Price is often a good indicator of quality – if it’s too cheap to be true it probably is!

It takes a LOT of effort to harvest and bottle honey correctly!

This super easy salad dressing is healthy and delicious.

• 30 ml honey
• 30 ml vinegar

Mix together in a small jug and pour over salad just before serving!

I usually use apple cider vinegar, white wine vinegar or grape vinegar. All of these are made from fruit and so contain nutrients and health benefits