Sweet story

I keep a jar (or a squeeze bottle that looks like a honeybear) of honey in the pantry. I sweeten my spaghetti sauce and iced tea with it, and I happily jumped on the hot honey trend with my fried chicken. I slather on Texas Pete hot sauce, then glaze it with honey, and boy howdy! That's good eating!

But - there is history "bee"hind all this....over in Egypt, archeologists have dug into the pyramids and found pots filled with honey that has never spoiled!

The AllRecipes website talked to a beekeeper name of Whendi Grad. Her husband Garnett Puett is a fourth-generation beekeeper at Big Island Bees in Hawaii. The two of them keep up with 2,000 hives using traditional beekeeping methods.

And Grad wants you to know, if you store honey properly, it will not go bad.

"Honey will darken and/or crystallize, but it is still safe to eat," she said. It may oxidize, due to being store in metal or plastic containers, and being around heat can change its flavor. So don't do that!

Grad says, to keep your honey from fermenting, seal it in an air-tight glass container. And be sure to use clean, dry utensils to scoop it out of the jar, because moisture will harm the honey.

Honey is low in moisture content. That thwarts any bacteria from surviving. And no bacteria means no spoilage. Plus, surprise! honey is acidic enough to get rid of  the bacteria and organisms that spoil other food.

And - adding to the marvels of nature - bees add their own enzymes to their honey.  Those enzymes produce hydrogen peroxide - the same stuff we use to treat wounds and dye our hair.

So that is why bees are half blonde.

 

Aunt Bee