In the article we discuss honeydew honey. You will learn what bees produce this product from, how it is useful for humans, and how to choose and store it correctly.

Honeydew honey is considered second-rate, but it also has beneficial properties. We are accustomed to the fact that honey is a product of processing nectar collected by bees from plants and flowers. Let's figure it out, honeydew honey - what is it?

Honeydew is a sweet, sticky liquid that appears on the leaves of plants and is the secretion of insects living on the leaves.. Honeydew is also called the sweet juice that appears on leaves or needles under the influence of sudden changes in temperature. Otherwise, this juice is called honey dew.

What does honeydew honey mean? It is a beekeeping product, the source of which is honeydew. This honey is considered second-class. Bees collect it only if, for some reason, nectar is not released from flowers (unfavorable weather). Most often, bees collect honeydew in the beginning - mid-autumn, when there is no place to collect flower pollen.

Sources of honeydew of animal origin include mole crickets, psyllids, scale insects, and aphids. Plant sources of honeydew include: spruce, pine, oak, elm, maple, larch, fir, linden, rose.

The color of this product (depending on the honeydew collected by the bees) can vary from orange-yellow to black. The consistency is very viscous and melts slowly in the mouth. Sometimes it has no odor at all, in other cases it may emit a not very pleasant aroma. To taste - sweet, with notes of bitterness. It crystallizes more slowly than flower varieties into a fine-grained mass, sometimes with a large sediment of the liquid fraction. In some cases it does not thicken at all.

This product contains:

• water;
• fructose;
• sucrose;
• phytoncides;
• cobalt;
• phosphorus;
• fluorine;
• manganese;
• magnesium;
• iron;
• calcium;
• dextrins.

Calorie content per 100 grams of product is 324 Kcal.

Features of honeydew honey:

1. The collection area is mainly in high mountain areas and coniferous-deciduous forests. It is very rare in its pure form. Most often it is sold in mixed (together with pollen) form. If you purchased blended honey, note that the color will be lighter than pure honeydew honey, and the honey will not be as thick.
2. Lack of antibiotic substances and phytoncides that provide an antibacterial effect.
3. Some beekeepers sometimes leave the last honey collected from flowers in the hives for bees to feed. Bees are not fed honeydew honey, as it is poisonous to them.

Beneficial properties of honeydew honey

Let's figure out why honeydew honey is useful. It has the following therapeutic effects on the human body:

• restorative;
• anti-inflammatory;
• healing;
• diuretic;
• choleretic;
• calming.

The benefits of honeydew honey have been proven in the treatment of the following diseases and conditions:

• postoperative period;
• large blood loss;
• anemia;
• anemia;
• heart and vascular diseases (myocardial infarction, stroke, atherosclerosis);
• kidney and liver diseases;
• violations of water-salt metabolism;
• excess weight.

It is also prescribed to children with weakened immune systems to improve the body's protective functions. Honeydew honey is effective in the treatment of colds and ARVI.

It is prescribed for problems with the thyroid gland, as well as deficiency of calcium, fluorine and magnesium in the body.

Improves metabolic processes and intestinal motility, which is important for overweight people. To do this, just dilute 1 teaspoon of honey in cold boiled water and drink it on an empty stomach in the morning. The duration of treatment is 2 weeks.

It is well suited for people engaged in work with heavy physical exertion, as well as workers with high mental labor costs. Relaxes muscles.

Has a calming, anti-stress effect. Well suited during periods of high psycho-emotional stress.

For external use it is suitable for people suffering from joint diseases. The recipe for use is very simple: rub the sore joints with honey, wrap in film, insulate and lie down for about an hour.

Applications of honeydew honey

Honeydew honey is sweet in taste, but with a characteristic aroma, honeydew honey is used not only in folk medicine, but also in cooking. However, keep in mind that when heated, all its beneficial qualities disappear.

The therapeutic effect of honey occurs in a short time. The maximum daily dose of the product for oral administration is no more than 3 tablespoons.

Most people like to add honey to hot drinks. It is better not to do this with this product, as all the healing properties will disappear. If you choose honeydew honey as a medicine, then use it exclusively as a bite.

Honeydew honey is used in dermatology and cosmetology. It has a rejuvenating effect, tightens the skin well and smoothes out facial wrinkles. It is used to make face masks and honey body wraps. It is used for anti-cellulite massage. The wound healing properties of honeydew honey allow the product to be used to reduce scars and stretch marks.

How to choose and store honeydew honey

When choosing, it is important to know how to identify honeydew honey:

1. This product has a pronounced bitter taste.
2. Honey has high viscosity.
3. The smell is very unique, slightly spicy.
4. The composition of honey is unstable and hygroscopic.
5. The product crystallizes, turning into a fine-grained mass with a liquid fraction.
6. Honey of dark shades undergoes crystallization to a lesser extent due to the presence of polysaccharides.

You can check the naturalness of honey at home in 2 ways:

1. Dissolve honeydew honey in distilled water 1:1 and add 6 parts of alcohol to it. If a cloudy liquid with significant sediment has formed, then the honey is not fake.
2. Dissolve the product with distilled and lime water in proportions 1:1:2. Bring the liquid to a boil. If flakes form during the heating process, then the honey is real.

This product does not store well. Subject to souring, especially if not sealed in honeycombs. So you are unlikely to be able to stock up on it. Buy a small jar of honey so you can use it up quickly.

If you decide to extend the shelf life, then make sure that it is not exposed to direct sunlight. Storage temperature 7−15 C. Store in a glass container with a tightly closed lid.

Contraindications and possible harm

Like all other beekeeping products, honeydew honey has both beneficial properties and contraindications.

It should not be used in the following cases:

• tendency to allergic reactions;
• individual intolerance;
• diseases of the gastrointestinal tract;
• increased acidity of gastric juice;
• diabetes;
• inflammation of the joints in the acute phase.

It should not be given to children under 3 years of age.

For more information about honeydew honey, watch the video:

What to remember

1. Honeydew honey, the benefits and harms of which are described in the article, is an effective remedy. However, the daily dose should not exceed 3 tablespoons.
2. Do not dissolve honey in hot water, as it will lose its beneficial properties.
3. It is very rare in its pure form. Most often, mixed honey is offered for sale: from honeydew and pollen.
4. Those with a sweet tooth are unlikely to like its taste; it is quite cloying, and honey itself has an unusual smell.

If we buy honey at the market in early autumn or in the hot August summer after an equally hot July, then most likely we are dealing with honeydew honey mixed with flower honey. Although buckwheat and sunflower also bloom late, the product of these honey plants is easily distinguishable by smell, color and taste. Honeydew honey has its own distinctive characteristics.

In this article we will look at what honeydew honey is and talk about its animal and plant origins.

Honeydew honey has many colors and shades. It depends on the type of plants and insects from which honeydew is taken, and weather and climatic conditions. It is amber or dark greenish in color if the source of honeydew is tree needles.
But in most cases it is dark brown or black in color.

This is the first sign by which it is distinguished when purchasing. In its structure and consistency, this honey is similar to tar. It is viscous and stretchy.

The more impurities of flower honey there are, the more liquid it is. If honeydew honey is taken from coniferous trees, it is sweet.

In all other cases, its sweetness is little felt, but a bitter taste appears. Sometimes its taste is unpleasant and repulsive.

It is characterized by increased hygroscopicity, so it sours quickly. It is not suitable for long-term storage. Crystallization occurs slowly, sometimes it does not occur or the liquid fraction settles.

During the time of Tsarist Russia, it was forbidden to trade it, as it was believed that it was a product of low grade and quality. The phrase “in the absence of fish and cancer is a fish” is about honeydew honey. But this concerns the choice of the bee. If she has to choose, she will give preference to flower nectar.

In Western Europe, honeydew honey is valued more than flower honey due to its beneficial properties. We traditionally give preference, like bees, to the flower species.

Natural honeydew honey

Ingredients: vitamins and minerals

The composition of honeydew honey varies. Depends on the honeydew from which the bees take a bribe. For example, honey collected from pine needles contains 5-6 times less phosphorus than from honeydew of ash leaves.

The same applies to potassium content. It contains phytoncides, which are natural antibiotics. There are also a lot of mineral salts (iron, cobalt, phosphorus, manganese). According to these indicators, this variety exceeds the flower variety, which is why it is so valuable for humans.

Honeydew honey contains many polysaccharides. In addition, it contains fructose, sucrose, glucose, and other sugars. There are many free amino acids present. This type of honey contains 3-4 times more protein than flower honey. 100 grams of product contains 324 kilocalories. This is a high figure.

The large amount of minerals makes honeydew honey unsuitable for bees as a winter reserve, otherwise the bees will die. Nitrogen compounds also prevent this. It is harmless to humans.

Benefits and harms

Provides invaluable benefits to the body. It has antiseptic and bactericidal properties and is an excellent antidepressant. He restores strength increases the overall tone of the body.

It is useful for a weakened body, especially for children after an illness or to increase immunity. It is used in traditional and alternative medicine, cosmetology.

It is not advisable to use honeydew honey in cooking, since treatment at elevated temperatures has a detrimental effect on its beneficial properties.

The structure is destroyed, it delaminates, loses color and attractiveness. The taste also changes towards increasing bitterness.

How to distinguish natural honeydew honey

Contraindications for use

Due to its calorie content and large amount of minerals, it is taken in moderation. Allergy sufferers are not recommended to take this variety as it can cause harm to the body. The same applies to people suffering from diabetes.

Daily consumption is limited to one tablespoon three times a day. That is, the dose for an adult is 110-130 grams.

About the honey plant

In periods that are too dry, bees take honeydew as a bribe. It comes in plant and animal origin. In the first case, it is a sweetish transparent liquid that is secreted by plants (leaves and shoots).
Some people call it “honeydew.” If you saw droplets of colorless liquid on the leaves of trees in the morning, then this is not dew, but plant honeydew. It also comes in animal origin. These are waste products of insects that feed on plant sap, for example, plant lice.

But a bee, even in the absence of honey plants, will refuse to take honeydew if its composition does not exceed 4% sucrose and there is not a sufficient amount of aromatic substances.

Storage conditions

Honeydew honey does not store well. This is due to its chemical composition and increased hygroscopicity. Therefore, we are not talking about long-term storage.

If you decide to stock up on it for future use, the requirements for storage conditions are common to all varieties. The main thing is that the temperature regime is maintained and the humidity is within normal limits. In addition, it is undesirable for honey to be exposed to direct sunlight.

For short-term storage, set the temperature to around 15 degrees Celsius. For long-term storage - around 7 degrees plus. We keep air humidity at 60%. We use glass containers. As an exception - plastic.

Natural honeydew honey in combs

Medicinal properties

Honeydew honey is used in medicine after operations to restore a weakened body.

It will help those suffering from anemia better than flower.

In case of loss of blood, it will also provide a great service to restore it. For those who have joint pain or suffer from intestinal sluggishness, this type of honey is recommended. He will help better than anyone else.

Honeydew honey is a specific variety in every sense. Along with its disadvantages (it is poorly stored, does not have a pleasant aroma and delicate taste), it has healing properties due to the minerals, phytoncides and polysaccharides it contains.

It turns out that bee honey is not always the processed flower nectar we are used to.

There is also honeydew. These are sweet insects that live on leaves and branches: aphids, leaf flea beetles, scale insects. From all this we get honeydew honey. What it is? This unusual product will be discussed in this article.

Types of honeydew

To decide and understand what honeydew honey is, you must first understand its origin.

There are periods when the usual most suitable honey plants for bees are absent. In this regard, they begin to collect honeydew - a sweetish secretion that can be of either animal or plant origin.

In the first case, this is the secretion of insects (mostly aphids) that feed on plant sap. In the second, it is honeydew and sweet plant secretions formed on coniferous and deciduous trees (aspen, willow, oaks and linden).

To better understand how honeydew honey is obtained, what it is and whether it is useful, you should consider its types.

According to the source of its occurrence, honeydew honey is divided into 2 types:

1. Honeydew of animal origin.

Aphids, feeding on the sap of various plants, secrete a kind of “by-product” with a high sugar content. In the hottest weather, as noted above, bees begin to collect this sweetish coating from the leaves. Most often there are mixed collections when the honeydew contains some pollen.

2. Honeydew is of plant origin.

It contains carbohydrate secretions from some tree species. They appear especially actively in the heat, which gives the bees the opportunity, without stopping their work, to wait out these unfavorable conditions for some time.

Characteristics of honey

How to identify honeydew honey? This is easy to do based on the following characteristics:

1. By color, which varies depending on the source:

Honeydew collected from deciduous trees gives the honey a rather rich brown color.

Honey from coniferous trees has a light greenish tint.

The honeydew of animal origin gives the product an almost black color.

Honeydew mixed with pollen forms light golden-colored honey.

2. By aroma. There are products with a light and barely noticeable odor, and in some varieties it is completely absent.

3. In terms of taste - pleasant and sweet, with a slight bitterness.

4. By consistency and crystallization. The peculiarity of honeydew honey is its thick and viscous consistency. When mixed with flower pollen, it becomes more liquid. This honey crystallizes slowly. And many varieties do not crystallize at all, but simply separate or form an opaque mass, similar to a soap solution.

Composition of honey

Honeydew honey is amazing. Its benefits are clear even if you just look at its composition. It is very different from the usual beekeeping products. For example, honey of animal origin contains many protein breakdown products, and honeydew of plant origin contains a huge amount (more than 90%) of carbohydrates.

Honeydew honey on average contains more than 65% glucose and fructose, about 15% sucrose and a large amount (about 11%) of polysaccharides, including dextrin and melitose, as well as 3% proteins. Mineral and nitrogenous substances, lipids, and organic acids are found in honey in large quantities.

Due to the high content of phosphorus and potassium, it perfectly strengthens the skeletal system.

It is an excellent means of preventing most “age-related” diseases and perfectly rejuvenates the body.

Prevents the development of atherosclerosis, strengthens the cardiovascular system, promotes faster recovery after strokes and heart attacks.

Restores strength after increased mental and physical stress.

It has good preventive properties against colds and strengthens the immune system.

It has a good effect on intestinal motility.

It has a rather beneficial effect on the blood, and therefore is used for anemia.

This is such wonderful honeydew honey. We found out what it is. Below we will tell you how to store it.

Storage Features

Honeydew quite intensively absorbs moisture from the air. Therefore, in order for this product to retain its properties longer, it must be stored in a carefully closed container (glass or ceramic) in a cool, dry place (not in the refrigerator). You should not take this product in large quantities - you need to purchase only the required amount for the coming months.

Due to the unusual source of origin, this beekeeping product, as noted above, contains some elements of protein origin. In addition, it does not contain phytoncides contained in plants and their pollen, which can protect the varieties of honey familiar to people from various bacteria. And protein particles are a favorable environment for the development of microorganisms. Although honeydew honey contains a small admixture of flower pollen, the amount of these phytoncides is not enough to hinder the process. This is the reason why honeydew honey quickly turns sour.

Benefits and harms

There is a positive point: this honey, compared to other similar products, can be consumed by people with increased body weight and diabetes. Although the carbohydrate content in this honey is high, it helps to improve and accelerate the metabolic process, removing harmful cholesterol compounds and toxins.

Honeydew honey can also be harmful. It, like other bee products, can cause an allergic reaction. Therefore, before using honeydew honey, you should check the body’s reaction to it by using a small amount for the first time.

The medicinal properties of honeydew honey are discovered only when used correctly. It is advisable to use it without mixing it with anything. Fawn honey can be added to herbal tea, but it should only be warm (no more than 60 degrees) in order to retain its beneficial properties. You can use it in food no more than one tablespoon per day.

In European countries, honeydew honey is the most valuable compared to other similar products. In Russia it is not so popular due to its unusual taste and color. And yet you should not neglect such a valuable natural medicine.

Conclusion

As you can see, in addition to regular honey, there is also honeydew honey. What it is became clear. How is this product, obtained in different parts of the country, different?

In Western Europe, bees take mainly honeydew, but in Russia, most of its source is honeydew, which produces a low-quality second-rate product that is not particularly popular.

It turns out that the place of origin influences the quality, value, and determines its properties, both useful and harmful.

In European countries, honeydew is considered the most valuable type of honey. It usually appears on Russian markets at the end of summer or early autumn - that’s when it’s time to harvest this product. This type, at first glance, does not look very attractive to the buyer - there is neither an aromatic smell nor a sweet taste. In addition, there are certain storage problems. However, this product has a truly rich composition: there are polysaccharides, minerals, and other vital elements.

As a result, consuming such honey brings significant benefits to the body.

Peculiarities

Honeydew honey is a product that has different shades. It is usually black or dark brown, but can also be brown, amber with a brown tint, or dark green. The color depends on the source of the honeydew (the sticky liquid on plant leaves) and the conditions under which it forms. The consistency is quite viscous, the product seems to stretch and is somewhat reminiscent of tar. When honeydew is taken from coniferous plants, not only the color changes, but also the taste - it becomes sweet. In other cases, it is even bitter and not particularly pleasant.

Sometimes you can taste the malt. Honey quickly sours and cannot be stored for a long time. It crystallizes very slowly and for a long time. After completion of the process, a viscous main product and a granular precipitate are formed. Honey dissolves in water with great difficulty.

Although in Russia preference has always been given to the flower variety, in Europe the honeydew product was especially valued due to its beneficial properties. The composition and content of useful substances also depends on the dominant component. For example, honeydew from ash leaves provides much more phosphorus than honeydew from coniferous trees. The same goes for potassium and mineral salts. In general, honeydew honey contains a lot of fructose, glucose, sucrose and polysaccharides. It is not inferior in protein content either - there are about 4 times more of them than in flower honey.

The calorie content of the honeydew product is quite high - 324-328 kilocalories per 100 grams of product. The potassium content is highest in honeydew, the source of which was honeydew. Insect honeydew fills the product with proteins, acids and dextrins. Among the beneficial substances present in honey, you can find potassium, iron, magnesium, calcium, zinc, and iodine. Sugars are predominantly disaccharides that have not been processed by insects.

Among the vitamins, vitamin C and B vitamins are distinguished. If we compare the composition with flower honey, then honeydew contains less sugar, more proteins, nitrogenous and mineral substances. The latter – as much as 8 times. Therefore, often those diseases that nectar cannot cope with are cured by honeydew.

Although the minerals present in honey are beneficial to humans, such substances make the product harmful to bees in winter, since insects cannot use it as reserves. In addition, bees are hampered by nitrogenous compounds that make the product unsuitable for their nutrition - otherwise the insects will die from diseases of the digestive organs. Honeydew honey is produced throughout Russia. The product is usually harvested during periods when the temperature rises sharply - mainly in summer and early autumn. If you want to collect spring honeydew honey, you will have to mix it with flower honey.

In cooking, the use of this product is not particularly popular (the taste is not very pleasant and processing at high temperatures is harmful), so the main value of the product lies in its medicinal effects.

Benefits and harms

The beneficial properties of honeydew honey are very extensive - almost the entire body benefits. Consuming the product gives you energy and helps you recover both after a hard day and after a long illness.

Honey is a natural antiseptic with bactericidal properties and has a positive effect on the psyche, helping to cope with depression. Of course, honeydew honey also serves to strengthen the immune system. The substance will come to the rescue with blood loss, intestinal diseases and joint diseases.

The potassium present in the product helps cleanse blood vessels and improve blood circulation. Very often, doctors recommend its use for hypertension and angina. B vitamins help cope with insomnia and calm the central nervous system. People leading an active, eventful life are recommended to use this tasty supplement.

Finally, this natural remedy removes toxins and other harmful substances from the body. Of course, honey is also actively used in cosmetology - masks based on it improve complexion and eliminate swelling, and wraps help cope with the appearance of cellulite, stretch marks and other skin deformations.

The product is considered an ideal replacement for biological supplements, compensating for the lack of all important elements in the body.

Contraindications are quite rare - honeydew honey should not be tried by those who are allergic to bee products. When applying a substance to your face, in any case, it is better to first test the product on a small area of ​​skin and wait to see what happens in a day. You should not feed honey to children whose bodies are not yet ready to absorb foods so rich in various substances. Consuming the product in large quantities is also dangerous for people suffering from diabetes.

Since honey is quite high in calories, it is recommended to take one tablespoon per day, about 120 grams, as a preventive measure. In addition, those who are afraid of gaining weight or increasing their blood sugar should be careful. The maximum daily intake is limited to five spoons in case of illness and three during epidemics of infectious diseases. The product is eaten before meals, washed down with plain water or warm tea. It is important to remember that the product should not be heated under any circumstances - this will cause it to lose almost all of its beneficial properties.

Kinds

First, you should clarify the cause of honeydew honey. During periods when the summer heat is hot or the weather is too dry, flowers can greatly reduce or even stop producing nectar. At the same time, the bees cannot stop their work, so they look for an alternative. In such cases, nature provides them with honeydew that appears on the trees. The varieties of honeydew honey are determined by the honeydew used. This sweet substance is collected by bees when they do not find more suitable honey plants. It can be of plant and animal origin.

In the first situation, we are talking about honeydew and the carbohydrate substance that forms on trees. Plants can be either coniferous or deciduous, for example, willow, oak, aspen and pine. The second situation refers to the sticky salivary secretions of insects - for example, aphids or lice. A prerequisite is that the living creatures must feed on plant sap. This substance contains a high amount of sugar and remains on the leaves. Bees collect it in the hottest weather. Very often such honeydew contains inclusions of pollen. Honeydew looks like a clear liquid, droplets of which can often be seen on plants in the morning.

It should be taken into account that only honeydew is suitable for bees, the level of sucrose does not exceed 4%, and also where a large amount of aromatic substances is not detected.

How to choose?

Today there are a lot of fakes and fictitious varieties of honey sold on the market. Considering that pure honeydew honey is very rare (only as a processing of honeydew) and is usually mixed with flower honey (and the bees themselves mix nectar with honeydew), you should understand how to make the right choice and not fall victim to scammers.

The honeydew variety can be distinguished from other varieties by its absent smell. You should take a good look at the color - it should be dark. You can clarify the origin of honeydew and compare the existing product with confirmed data: honey from coniferous honeydew has a dark green or brown tint (in the first case, spruce, in the second, pine). Honey from oak forests should be dark brown. If the honey is made from the honeydew of deciduous forests, the color will be brown or even black, most likely with a green tint.

It will also be important to look at the consistency of the substance - the top layer should be thick and viscous if the three months required for crystallization have already passed. You can also ask for a small amount to try and experiment at home. Honey and distilled water are taken in equal quantities, and then six times more alcohol is added to them. If honeydew is present, sediment will appear and the color will become more cloudy. Limewater works in exactly the same way, only it will need to be added 10 times more.

The appearance of flakes indicates the presence of the required substance. In addition, it is possible to check whether the seller added sugar syrup to improve the taste. Just take a spoonful of the product and drop it on a paper napkin.

If the substance spreads, it means there were water-based additives.

How to store?

Long-term storage of honeydew honey is almost impossible. This situation has arisen due to its complex chemical composition and ability to absorb water vapor from the air. If you still want to take a risk, you will have to comply with the conditions that are the same for all honey products. Exposure to direct sunlight is prohibited; it is important to control humidity levels and observe temperature limits.

If the substance is planned to be stored for a short time, then the temperature is set to +15 degrees. For longer storage periods it will have to be lowered to +7 degrees. Honey should be in a plastic or glass container, and air humidity should be consistently maintained at 60%

To learn how to recognize honeydew honey, watch the following video.

There are two types of honeydew in nature:
1. Vegetable origin - a sweetish liquid secreted by the leaves of trees and shoots of some plants. There is an opinion that this liquid should not be called honeydew, but “non-colored” nectar (“honeydew”).
2. Animal origin - waste products (feces) of some parasitic insects (plant lice) that feed on plant juices. There are hundreds of insects that secrete honeydew, but bees collect honeydew from only 71 species. Unlike honeydew, it contains protein breakdown products and other substances of animal origin.
Most often, the source of honeydew is the leaves (needles) of coniferous trees, maple, oak, willow, ash, cherry, plum, apple, willow, etc.
A prerequisite for honeydew to be collected by bees is the absence of a sufficient number of flowering plants. For example - honey of the first pumping (“May”) honeydew initially cannot be, since it was collected during the period of intense flowering (May-June). Signs honeydew honey characteristic of dry summers, and also characteristic of late-harvested honeys, when most of the plants have flowered. In this case, honeydew must contain at least 4% sucrose and the necessary aromatic compounds, otherwise the bees will simply ignore it.

Properties:

Properties of honeydew honey primarily depend on the type of plants and insects that secrete honeydew, as well as on the climatic and geographical conditions of the area, the time of collection, the strength of the bee colony, etc. In particular, fall, collected from ash leaves contains 8 times more potassium, and 5 times more phosphorus than from pine needles. During collection, the honeydew is colorless, and after a while it begins to gradually and intensely darken. Honeydew honey much thicker than floral, but if there is an admixture of floral in it, its density is significantly reduced.
It differs from the flower variety by its significant content of dextrin and melecitose; in addition, it contains maltose, raffinose, sucrose, fructose, glucose and a number of unidentified sugars. Free amino acids include aspartic and glutamic acids, alanine, cystine, arginine, glycine, leucine, histidine, methionine, lysine, proline, thrionine, tryptophan, valine and tyrosine.
For bees' supplies for the winter honeydew honey in most cases it is not suitable, since the high content of minerals and nitrogenous compounds can cause poisoning and even death of the bee colony.
Honeydew honey is not harmful to humans.
Most often it is as sweet as it is floral. But sometimes it has a characteristic bitterish tint. By this taste, a specialist will always distinguish the presence of honeydew in flower honey. The smell of honeydew honey less pronounced or absent, and sometimes peculiar to the point of unpleasantness. Although it can be quite aromatic and pleasant to the taste (from coniferous trees). The color in most cases is from dark brown to black, and with conifers it is dark green or even amber. Distinctive external properties of honeydew honey– its peculiar viscous, sticky, viscous and sticky consistency. It dissolves poorly in water, does not melt in the mouth for a long time and lies in a separate lump.
Honey from deciduous trees settles slowly with the formation of small crystals, sometimes it does not crystallize at all, coniferous honey is candied quite quickly, sometimes right in the comb. Unlike flower, it is almost devoid of bactericidal properties, and in combination with its high hygroscopicity and moisture content, it often turns sour.
In tsarist times, a beekeeper caught selling honey laced with honeydew was severely punished. He was given a special label, without which he subsequently had no right to exhibit his products on the market, where he was sent to the most inconvenient place, away from conscientious beekeepers.
If at the end of August-September you are offered to buy aromatic “high-quality” forest honey of a dark brown color, explaining its characteristic shade as a bribe from flowers from a “too dense reserved forest”, - at best, this is in front of you honeydew honey with a hint of floral. This impurity determines its aroma. To your surprise, your “dense” amateur beekeeper himself openly believes in the unique properties of his product and you will not be able to convince him.
The presence of honeydew in honey is determined by a simple laboratory method. Its presence is most typical for hot, dry summers.
Often in dry summers, dew is observed on the leaves and grass in the mornings and evenings. Some believe this is the result of atmospheric moisture condensation. They are deeply mistaken. This is the same “honeydew” secreted by plants, or honeydew left by parasitic insects.

Application:

In Russia properties of honeydew honey not sufficiently studied. But, in comparison with flower, its unconditional positive quality is its high content of microelements (10 times higher); vital compounds of iron, manganese, cobalt, phosphorus, etc. (3.5 times); enzymes; organic acids and phytoncides. According to the findings of scientists (NSHI) honeydew honey “It is especially useful for weakened children, patients suffering from anemia, in the postoperative period, with large blood losses” (M. E. Granzon). In particular, in Europe (especially in Germany), pine honeydew honey is valued more than the best flower honey.
And yet, before using honeydew honey(especially children) we recommend that you consult your family doctor first.

Note: when heated above 50°C, honey loses its properties and its value will not be higher than sugar syrup.