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67-500: Even though arrayán trees (Luma apiculata) can be seen on the way to the end of the peninsula , the forest of 300-year-old arrayanes covers 0.2 km (20 ha) of the southern point, with individuals of over 600 years. The forest can be reached by boat from different points of the Nahuel Huapi lake, or a 12 km (7.5 mi) path from the beginning of the park at the port of Villa La Angostura. This path, full of ups and downs,

134-663: A Spanish name for the related European myrtle ), kelümamüll (orange-wood) (the Mapuche Native American name), shortleaf stopper, palo colorado and temu . Luma is a derivation of a vernacular Chilean name for this species, while apiculata means 'with a small, broadly pointed tip'. The Chilean myrtle grows along water currents in the Valdivian temperate forests in Chile, while in Argentina it grows from Neuquén south to

201-464: A glassy state and becomes an amorphous solid (noncrystalline). The viscosity of honey is affected greatly by both temperature and water content. The higher the water percentage, the more easily honey flows . Above its melting point, however, water has little effect on viscosity. Aside from water content, the composition of most types of honey also has little effect on viscosity. At 25 °C (77 °F), honey with 14% water content generally has

268-598: A supercooled solution of various sugars in water. These concentrations of sugar can only be achieved near room temperature by evaporation of a less concentrated solution, in this case nectar. For osmotic reasons such high concentrations of sugar are extremely unfavorable to microbiological reproduction and all fermentation is consequently halted. The bees then cap the cells of finished honey with wax. This seals them from contamination and prevents further evaporation. So long as its water concentration does not rise much above 18%, honey has an indefinite shelf life, both within

335-408: A few types have non-Newtonian viscous properties. Honeys from heather or manuka display thixotropic properties. These types of honey enter a gel-like state when motionless, but liquefy when stirred. Because honey contains electrolytes , in the form of acids and minerals, it exhibits varying degrees of electrical conductivity . Measurements of the electrical conductivity are used to determine

402-555: A food for their larvae . To this end bees stockpile honey to provide for themselves during ordinary foraging as well as during lean periods, as in overwintering . During foraging bees use part of the nectar they collect to power their flight muscles. The majority of nectar collected is not used to directly nourish the insects but is instead destined for regurgitation , enzymatic digestion , and finally long-term storage as honey. During cold weather or when other food sources are scarce, adult and larval bees consume stored honey, which

469-469: A honey, which may be described as "sweet", "flowery", "citrus", "almond" or "rancid", among other terms. In addition, VOCs play a large role in determining the specific flavor of the honey, both through the aromas and flavor. VOCs from honeys in different geographic regions can be used as floral markers of those regions, and as markers of the bees that foraged the nectars. Honey is classified by its source (floral or not), and divisions are made according to

536-687: A long and varied history, with its beginnings in prehistoric times . Several cave paintings in Cuevas de la Araña in Spain depict humans foraging for honey at least 8,000 years ago. While Apis mellifera is an Old World insect , large-scale meliponiculture of New World stingless bees has been practiced by Mayans since pre-Columbian times. Honey is produced by bees who have collected nectar or honeydew . Bees value honey for its sugars, which they consume to support general metabolic activity , especially that of their flight muscles during foraging , and as

603-436: A possible fire), making them less aggressive, and obscures the pheromones the bees use to communicate. The honeycomb is removed from the hive and the honey may be extracted from it either by crushing or by using a honey extractor . The honey is then usually filtered to remove beeswax and other debris. Before the invention of removable frames, bee colonies were often sacrificed to conduct the harvest. The harvester would take all

670-631: A primary role in determining honey flavors and aromas . VOCs are carbon-based compounds that readily vaporize into the air, providing aroma, including the scents of flowers, essential oils, or ripening fruit. The typical chemical families of VOCs found in honey include hydrocarbons , aldehydes , alcohols , ketones , esters , acids , benzenes , furans , pyrans , norisoprenoids , and terpenes , among many others and their derivatives. The specific VOCs and their amounts vary considerably between different types of honey obtained by bees foraging on different plant sources. By example, when comparing

737-449: A primary role in determining the exact temperature. Of these acids, the amino acids, which occur in very small amounts, play an important role in the darkening of honey. The amino acids form darkened compounds called melanoidins , during a Maillard reaction . The Maillard reaction occurs slowly at room temperature, taking from a few to several months to show visible darkening, but speeds up dramatically with increasing temperatures. However,

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804-518: A solid), so melting crystallized honey can easily result in localized caramelization if the heat source is too hot or not evenly distributed. However, honey takes substantially longer to liquefy when just above the melting point than at elevated temperatures. Melting 20 kg (44 lb) of crystallized honey at 40 °C (104 °F) can take up to 24 hours, while 50 kg (110 lb) may take twice as long. These times can be cut nearly in half by heating at 50 °C (122 °F); however, many of

871-418: A solution of fructose and other ingredients. The density of honey typically ranges between 1.38 and 1.45 kg/L at 20 °C. The melting point of crystallized honey is between 40 and 50 °C (104 and 122 °F), depending on its composition. Below this temperature, honey can be either in a metastable state, meaning that it will not crystallize until a seed crystal is added, or, more often, it

938-463: A viscosity around 400  poise , while a honey containing 20% water has a viscosity around 20 poise. Viscosity increases very slowly with moderate cooling; a honey containing 16% water, at 70 °C (158 °F), has a viscosity around 2 poise, while at 30 °C (86 °F), the viscosity is around 70 poise. With further cooling, the increase in viscosity is more rapid, reaching 600 poise at around 14 °C (57 °F). However, while honey

1005-445: A wooden path has been made for the tourist to enjoy the view of the cinnamon -coloured trees. The park has a cold, humid climate. Mean temperatures range from 3 °C (37.4 °F) in winter to 14 °C (57.2 °F) in summer. On average, the park receives 1,300 mm (51 in) of rainfall per year, most of which falls during winter. Snowfall occurs between July and September. Luma apiculata Luma apiculata ,

1072-414: Is also affected by water content, because a high percentage of water inhibits crystallization, as does a high dextrin content. Temperature also affects the rate of crystallization, with the fastest growth occurring between 13 and 17 °C (55 and 63 °F). Crystal nuclei (seeds) tend to form more readily if the honey is disturbed, by stirring, shaking, or agitating, rather than if left at rest. However,

1139-499: Is also popularly done by mountain bike . There are a few pudú and huemul deer , guanacos , monitos de monte , and small foxes . Among the birds, condors , eagles , hawks , and woodpeckers can be found here. Even though it was already part of the Nahuel Huapi National Park , Los Arrayanes was created in 1971 to protect its forest of rare arrayán trees. To protect the soil and the roots of these fragile trees,

1206-668: Is also suspected to be naturalising in New Zealand and the Pacific Northwest of the United States. This plant has gained the Royal Horticultural Society 's Award of Garden Merit . Honey Honey is a sweet and viscous substance made by several species of bees , the best-known of which are honey bees . Honey is made and stored to nourish bee colonies. Bees produce honey by gathering and then refining

1273-599: Is an important food for virtually all hunter-gatherer cultures in warm climates, with the Hadza people ranking honey as their favorite food. Honey hunters in Africa have a mutualistic relationship with certain species of honeyguide birds. Possibly the world's oldest fermented beverage , dating from 9,000 years ago, mead ("honey wine") is the alcoholic product made by adding yeast to honey-water must and fermenting it for weeks or months. The yeast Saccharomyces cerevisiae

1340-408: Is collected from wild bee colonies or from domesticated beehives. On average, a hive will produce about 29 kilograms (65 lb) of honey per year. Wild bee nests are sometimes located by following a honeyguide bird. To safely collect honey from a hive, beekeepers typically pacify the bees using a bee smoker . The smoke triggers a feeding instinct (an attempt to save the resources of the hive from

1407-507: Is commonly used in modern mead production. Mead varieties include drinks called metheglin (with spices or herbs), melomel (with fruit juices, such as grape, specifically called pyment ), hippocras (with cinnamon ), and sack mead (high concentration of honey), many of which have been developed as commercial products numbering in the hundreds in the United States. Honey is also used to make mead beer , called "braggot". The physical properties of honey vary, depending on water content,

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1474-594: Is in a "labile" state, being saturated with enough sugars to crystallize spontaneously. The rate of crystallization is affected by many factors, but the primary factor is the ratio of the main sugars: fructose to glucose. Honeys that are supersaturated with a very high percentage of glucose, such as brassica honey, crystallize almost immediately after harvesting, while honeys with a low percentage of glucose, such as chestnut or tupelo honey, do not crystallize. Some types of honey may produce few but very large crystals, while others produce many small crystals. Crystallization

1541-415: Is in their own honey stomachs, the hive bees regurgitate the nectar, repeatedly forming bubbles between their mandibles , speeding its digestion and concentration. These bubbles create a large surface area per volume and by this means the bees evaporate a portion of the nectar's water into the warm air of the hive. Hive bees form honey-processing groups. These groups work in relay, with one bee subjecting

1608-605: Is limiting access to humidity. In its cured state, honey has a sufficiently high sugar content to inhibit fermentation. If exposed to moist air, its hydrophilic properties pull moisture into the honey, eventually diluting it to the point that fermentation can begin. The long shelf life of honey is attributed to an enzyme found in the stomach of bees. The bees mix glucose oxidase with expelled nectar they previously consumed, creating two byproducts – gluconic acid and hydrogen peroxide , which are partially responsible for honey acidity and suppression of bacterial growth. Honey

1675-399: Is many times as energy-dense as the nectar from which it is made. After leaving the hive, a foraging bee collects sugar-rich nectar or honeydew. Nectar from the flower generally has a water content of 70 to 80% and is much less viscous than finished honey, which usually has a water content around 18%. The water content of honeydew from aphids and other true bugs is generally very close to

1742-421: Is normal. At very low temperatures, honey does not freeze solid; rather its viscosity increases. Like most viscous liquids , the honey becomes thick and sluggish with decreasing temperature. At −20 °C (−4 °F), honey may appear or even feel solid, but it continues to flow at very low rates. Honey has a glass transition between −42 and −51 °C (−44 and −60 °F). Below this temperature, honey enters

1809-573: Is often pasteurized , to kill any yeast, by heating it above 70 °C (158 °F). Like all sugar compounds, honey caramelizes if heated sufficiently, becoming darker in color, and eventually burns. However, honey contains fructose, which caramelizes at lower temperatures than glucose. The temperature at which caramelization begins varies, depending on the composition, but is typically between 70 and 110 °C (158 and 230 °F). Honey also contains acids, which act as catalysts for caramelization. The specific types of acids and their amounts play

1876-598: Is preferred because all bee colonies, even those in very large agricultural apiculture operations, readily leave the protection of humans in swarms that can establish successful wild colonies. Much of the effort in commercial beekeeping is dedicated to persuading a hive that is ready to swarm to produce more honeycomb in its present location. This is usually done by adding more space to the colony with honey supers , empty boxes placed on top of an existing colony. The bees can then usually be enticed to develop this empty space instead of dividing their colony through swarming. Honey

1943-441: Is sometimes adulterated by the addition of other sugars, syrups, or compounds to change its flavor or viscosity, reduce cost, or increase the fructose content to inhibit crystallization . Honey has been adulterated since ancient times, when honey was sometimes blended with plant syrups such as maple , birch , or sorghum and sold to customers as pure honey. Sometimes crystallized honey was mixed with flour or other fillers, hiding

2010-399: Is viscous, it has low surface tension of 50–60 mJ/m , making its wettability similar to water, glycerin , or most other liquids. The high viscosity and wettability of honey cause stickiness , which is a time-dependent process in supercooled liquids between the glass-transition temperature (T g ) and the crystalline-melting temperature. Most types of honey are Newtonian liquids , but

2077-574: The Chilean myrtle , arrayán or temu , is a species of flowering plant in the myrtle family , native to the central Andes between Chile and Argentina, at 33 to 45° south latitude. Growing to 10–15 m (33–49 ft) tall and wide, it is a vigorous, bushy, evergreen tree with fragrant flowers. The Chilean myrtle grows slowly, forming a small tree of around 10 to 15 m, rarely 20 m. Its trunk appears twisted and contorted and has smooth bark , coloured grey to bright orange-brown, which peels as

Los Arrayanes National Park - Misplaced Pages Continue

2144-809: The Chubut River . The main forests are on the Quetrihué Peninsula (Mapuche for 'myrtles') and on Isla Victoria on the Nahuel Huapi Lake, within the Los Arrayanes National Park and Nahuel Huapí National Park , respectively, in Argentina. It can be also found in lesser numbers along the Arrayanes River in Los Alerces National Park . Trees in these protected areas are up to 650 years old. The notable Argentinian myrtle forest of

2211-424: The hives of domesticated bees. The honey produced by honey bees is the most familiar to humans, thanks to its worldwide commercial production and availability. The husbandry of bees is known as beekeeping or apiculture, with the cultivation of stingless bees usually referred to as meliponiculture . Honey is sweet because of its high concentrations of the monosaccharides fructose and glucose . It has about

2278-443: The nucleation of microscopic seed-crystals is greatest between 5 and 8 °C (41 and 46 °F). Therefore, larger but fewer crystals tend to form at higher temperatures, while smaller but more-numerous crystals usually form at lower temperatures. Below 5 °C, the honey will not crystallize, thus the original texture and flavor can be preserved indefinitely. Honey is a supercooled liquid when stored below its melting point, as

2345-412: The sugary secretions of plants (primarily floral nectar ) or the secretions of other insects, like the honeydew of aphids. This refinement takes place both within individual bees, through regurgitation and enzymatic activity, and during storage in the hive, through water evaporation that concentrates the honey's sugars until it is thick and viscous. Honey bees stockpile honey in the hive . Within

2412-774: The Los Arrayanes National Park covers 20 ha of the Quetrihué Peninsula, where the cinnamon-coloured myrtles leave almost no space for other trees. Its fruit is appreciated in Chile and Argentina and its flowers are important for honey production. The Chilean myrtle has medicinal uses for the Mapuche people. It is also kept as bonsai and cultivated in gardens for the contrast of the glossy foliage and slender red stems. It has become naturalised in parts of Ireland and western Great Britain and it has been planted in Spain. It

2479-571: The United States, according to the National Honey Board, "Ensuring honey authenticity is one of the great challenges facing the honey industry today. Over the past half century, a number of honey testing methods have been developed to detect food fraud. To date, there is no single universal analytical method available which is capable of detecting all types of adulteration with adequate sensitivity." Isotope ratio mass spectrometry can be used to detect addition of corn syrup and cane sugar by

2546-430: The ability to absorb moisture directly from the air, a phenomenon called hygroscopy . The amount of water the honey absorbs is dependent on the relative humidity of the air. Because honey contains yeast, this hygroscopic nature requires that honey be stored in sealed containers to prevent fermentation, which usually begins if the honey's water content rises much above 25%. Honey tends to absorb more water in this manner than

2613-540: The adulteration from buyers until the honey was liquefied. In modern times, the most common adulterant became clear, almost-flavorless corn syrup; the adulterated mixture can be very difficult to distinguish from pure honey. According to the Codex Alimentarius of the United Nations, any product labeled as "honey" or "pure honey" must be a wholly natural product, although labeling laws differ between countries. In

2680-438: The available honey and replace the entire colony the next spring. Since the invention of removable frames, the principles of husbandry led most beekeepers to ensure that their bees have enough stores to survive the winter, either by leaving some honey in the beehive or by providing the colony with a honey substitute such as sugar water or crystalline sugar (often in the form of a "candyboard"). The amount of food necessary to survive

2747-481: The carbon isotopic signature . Addition of sugars originating from corn or sugar cane ( C4 plants , unlike the plants used by bees, and also sugar beet , which are predominantly C3 plants ) skews the isotopic ratio of sugars present in honey, but does not influence the isotopic ratio of proteins. In an unadulterated honey, the carbon isotopic ratios of sugars and proteins should match. Levels as low as 7% of addition can be detected. In 2020, global production of honey

Los Arrayanes National Park - Misplaced Pages Continue

2814-427: The colony to a site for a new hive. Bees generally swarm before a suitable location for another hive has been discovered by scouts sent out for this purpose. Until such a location is found the swarm will simply conglomerate near the former hive, often from tree branches. These swarms are unusually docile and amenable to transport by humans. When provided with a suitable nesting site, such as a commercial Langstroth hive ,

2881-497: The flora also have an effect on honey aroma properties, such as a "fruity" or "grassy" aroma from longan honey, or a "waxy" aroma from sunflower honey. Dominant VOCs in one study were linalool oxide , trans-linalool oxide, 2- phenylacetaldehyde , benzyl ethanol , isophorone , and methyl nonanoate . VOCs can also be introduced from the bodies of the bees, be produced by the enzymatic actions of digestion, or from chemical reactions that occur between different substances within

2948-471: The hive and after its removal by a beekeeper . Honey bees are not the only eusocial insects to produce honey. All non-parasitic bumblebees and stingless bees produce honey. Some wasp species, such as Brachygastra lecheguana and Brachygastra mellifica , found in South and Central America, are known to feed on nectar and produce honey. Other wasps, such as Polistes versicolor , also consume honey. In

3015-410: The hive is a structure made from wax called honeycomb . The honeycomb is made up of hundreds or thousands of hexagonal cells, into which the bees regurgitate honey for storage. Other honey-producing species of bee store the substance in different structures, such as the pots made of wax and resin used by the stingless bee . Honey for human consumption is collected from wild bee colonies, or from

3082-461: The honey during storage, and therefore may change, increase, or decrease over long periods of time. VOCs may be produced, altered, or greatly affected by temperature and processing. Some VOCs are heat labile, and are destroyed at elevated temperatures, while others can be created during non-enzymatic reactions, such as the Maillard reaction . VOCs are responsible for nearly all of the aroma produced by

3149-404: The honey stomach holds about 40 mg of liquid. This is about half the weight of an unladen bee. Collecting this quantity in nectar can require visits to more than a thousand flowers. When nectar is plentiful, it can take a bee more than an hour of ceaseless work to collect enough nectar to fill its honey crop. Salivary enzymes and proteins from the bee's hypopharyngeal gland are secreted into

3216-431: The honey-storage areas. This temperature is regulated either by generating heat with their bodies or removing it through water evaporation. The evaporation removes water from the stored honey, drawing heat from the colony. The bees use their wings to govern hive cooling. Coordinated wing beating moves air across the wet honey, drawing out water and heat. Ventilation of the hive eventually expels both excess water and heat into

3283-447: The individual sugars allow on their own, which may be due to other ingredients it contains. Fermentation of honey usually occurs after crystallization, because without the glucose, the liquid portion of the honey primarily consists of a concentrated mixture of fructose, acids, and water, providing the yeast with enough of an increase in the water percentage for growth. Honey that is to be stored at room temperature for long periods of time

3350-494: The middle of their life cycles they alternate between feeding on protein-rich pollen and feeding on honey, which is a far denser source of food energy . Human beings have semi-domesticated several species of honey bee by taking advantage of their swarming stage. Swarming is the means by which new colonies are established when there is no longer space for expansion in the colony's present hive. The old queen lays eggs that will develop into new queens and then leads as many as half

3417-415: The minor substances in honey can be affected greatly by heating, changing the flavor, aroma, or other properties, so heating is usually done at the lowest temperature and for the shortest time possible. The average pH of honey is 3.9, but can range from 3.4 to 6.1. Honey contains many kinds of acids, both organic and amino . However, the different types and their amounts vary considerably, depending on

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3484-563: The mixture of VOCs in different honeys in one review, longan honey had a higher amount of volatiles (48 VOCs), while sunflower honey had the lowest number of volatiles (8 VOCs). VOCs are primarily introduced into the honey from the nectar, where they are excreted by the flowers imparting individual scents. The specific types and concentrations of certain VOCs can be used to determine the type of flora used to produce monofloral honeys. The specific geography, soil composition and acidity used to grow

3551-402: The nectar once it is in the bee's honey stomach. These substances begin cleaving complex sugars like sucrose and starches into simpler sugars such as glucose and fructose . This process slightly raises the water content and the acidity of the partially digested nectar. Once filled, the forager bees return to the hive. There they regurgitate and transfer nectar to hive bees. Once it

3618-402: The outside world. The process of evaporating continues until the honey reaches its final water content of between 15.5% to 18%. This concentrates the sugars far beyond the saturation point of water, which is to say there is far more sugar dissolved in what little water remains in honey than ever could be dissolved in an equivalent volume of water. Honey, even at hive temperatures, is therefore

3685-456: The polarization plane. The fructose gives a negative rotation, while the glucose gives a positive one. The overall rotation can be used to measure the ratio of the mixture. Honey is generally pale yellow and dark brown in color, but other colors can occur, depending on the sugar source. Bee colonies that forage on Kudzu ( Pueraria montana var. lobata ) flowers, for example, produce honey that varies in color from red to purple. Honey has

3752-431: The processed nectar to bubbling and then passing the refined liquid on to others. It can take as long as 20 minutes of continuous regurgitation, digestion and evaporation until the product reaches storage quality. The new honey is then placed in honeycomb cells, which are left uncapped. This honey still has a very high water content, up to 70%, depending on the concentration of nectar gathered. At this stage of its refinement

3819-415: The quality of honey in terms of ash content. The effect honey has on light is useful for determining the type and quality. Variations in its water content alter its refractive index . Water content can easily be measured with a refractometer . Typically, the refractive index for honey ranges from 1.504 at 13% water content to 1.474 at 25%. Honey also has an effect on polarized light , in that it rotates

3886-435: The reaction can also be slowed by storing the honey at colder temperatures. Unlike many other liquids, honey has very poor thermal conductivity of 0.5 W/(m⋅K) at 13% water content (compared to 401 W/(m⋅K) of copper ), taking a long time to reach thermal equilibrium . Due to its high kinematic viscosity honey does not transfer heat through momentum diffusion ( convection ) but rather through thermal diffusion (more like

3953-497: The same relative sweetness as sucrose (table sugar). One standard tablespoon (15 mL) of honey provides around 190 kilojoules (46 kilocalories) of food energy . It has attractive chemical properties for baking and a distinctive flavor when used as a sweetener. Most microorganisms cannot grow in honey and sealed honey therefore does not spoil . Samples of honey discovered in archaeological contexts have proven edible even after millennia. Honey use and production has

4020-503: The sap on which those insects feed and is usually somewhat more dilute than nectar. One source describes the water content of honeydew as around 89%. Whether it is feeding on nectar or honeydew, the bee sucks these runny fluids through its proboscis , which delivers the liquid to the bee's honey stomach or "honey crop". This cavity lies just above its food stomach, the latter of which digests pollen and sugars consumed by an individual honey bee for its own nourishment. In Apis mellifera ,

4087-441: The swarm will readily form a new colony in artificial surroundings. These semi-domesticated colonies are then looked after by humans practicing apiculture or meliponiculture. Captured bees are encouraged to forage, often in agricultural settings such as orchards, where pollinators are highly valued. The honey, pollen , wax and resins the bees produce are all harvested by humans for a variety of uses. The term "semi-domesticated"

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4154-500: The tree grows - giving a two-tone appearance of rich cinnamon colour, contrasted with cream. It is evergreen , with small, fragrant, oval leaves 2.0 to 2.5 cm long and 1.5 broad, and profuse white flowers in early to midsummer. Its fruit is an edible black or blue berry 1.0 cm in diameter, ripe in early autumn. Synonyms include Eugenia apiculata DC., Myrceugenia apiculata (DC.) Niedenzu, and Myrceugenella apiculata (DC.) Kausel. Common names include arrayán (from

4221-425: The type of flora used to produce it (pasturage), temperature, and the proportion of the specific sugars it contains. Fresh honey is a supersaturated liquid, containing more sugar than the water can typically dissolve at ambient temperatures. At room temperature, honey is a supercooled liquid, in which the glucose precipitates into solid granules. This forms a semisolid solution of precipitated glucose crystals in

4288-717: The type of honey. These acids may be aromatic or aliphatic (nonaromatic). The aliphatic acids contribute greatly to the flavor of honey by interacting with the flavors of other ingredients. Organic acids comprise most of the acids in honey, accounting for 0.17–1.17% of the mixture, with gluconic acid formed by the actions of glucose oxidase as the most prevalent. Minor amounts of other organic acids are present, consisting of formic , acetic , butyric , citric , lactic , malic , pyroglutamic , propionic , valeric , capronic , palmitic , and succinic , among many others. Individual honeys from different plant sources contain over 100 volatile organic compounds (VOCs), which play

4355-500: The water content of the honey is high enough that ubiquitous yeast spores can reproduce in it, a process which, if left unchecked, would rapidly consume the new honey's sugars. To combat this, bees use an ability rare among insects: the endogenous generation of heat. Bees are among the few insects that can create large amounts of body heat. They use this ability to produce a constant ambient temperature in their hives. Hive temperatures are usually around 35 °C (95 °F) in

4422-608: The winter depends on the variety of bees and on the length and severity of local winters. Many animal species are attracted to wild or domestic sources of honey. Because of its composition and chemical properties, honey is suitable for long-term storage, and is easily assimilated even after long preservation. Honey, and objects immersed in honey, have been preserved for centuries. (However, no edible honey has been found in Egyptian tombs; all such cases have been proven to be other substances or only chemical traces. ) The key to preservation

4489-401: Was 1.8   million tonnes , led by China with 26% of the world total (table). Other major producers were Turkey , Iran , Argentina , and Ukraine . Over its history as a food, the main uses of honey are in cooking, baking, desserts, as a spread on bread, as an addition to various beverages such as tea, and as a sweetener in some commercial beverages. Due to its energy density, honey

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