Honey Definition

Honey is the sweet liquid produced by bees from the nectar of flowers. The honey source of the nectar the honey is made from determines its color and flavor. Most of the honey produced in the United States is from clover or alfalfa, which produces light colored and delicately flavored honeys. Other common honey include buck-wheat, which is darker and more sharply flavored, and the pale orange blossom and sage honeys. Much of the commercial product is a blend of several honeys.

All honeys are complex mixtures of the sugars fructose and glucose with water, organic acid and mineral and vitamin traces, as well as some plant pigments. Honey is harvested in in the form of comb honey, which may be cut in squares and sold. More often, the honey is strained out of the comb and bottled as a clear liquid. The cream-colored opaque, creamed honey that has been crystallized.

Because honey has the ability to absorb and retain moisture, it is commonly used in the baking industry to keep baked goods moist and fresh. Its high sugar content and its acidity make it an excellent food preservative, and it has long been used for this purpose, as well as for sweetening and as the basis for Mead, a weak alcoholic drink.