Piedmont Honeys
Definition
Honey, according to the international standard issued by the FAO / WHO Codex Alimentarius Commission, in 1998, is "the food product that domestic bees produce from the nectar of flowers or from the secretions from live parts of plants or found on them, which they forge, transform and combine with their own specific substances and leave to mature in the honeycombs of the hive".
Honey is a very sweet sugar solution, produced by bees to feed their larvae and to have a reserve of food during the winter season. The worker bees first take the nectar from the flowers, then transform it into honey by means of a special bag that is found in their digestive system. The honey produced inside the bee's body is then stored in honeycombs inside the hive. Bees honey is composed of fructose, glucose, water, enzymes and essential oils. Honey is a very nutritious food (100 grams provide 330 calories). While glucose provides immediate energy, fructose is stored in the body going to constitute an energy reserve. The color and taste depend both on the source from which the nectar was extracted and on the aging of the honey. Crystallization is a natural process that depends on the composition and temperature. Before being put on the market, honey is heated to 66 °C, to dissolve any crystals, then poured into sealed containers to limit crystallization as much as possible.
