If you come across black honey on the counter, you will probably be surprised. But there is nothing strange in this: this variety of bee product has such a color for a reason. Its honey plants are special plants, and not just chestnuts or buckwheat - crops whose honey is also dark. Due to the black color, a potential consumer may doubt the quality of the sweetness. Therefore, you need to figure out where honey gets its color and how this unusual product is useful.
Why is honey black?
It’s worth noting right away that black and dark honey are different products.The first one acquires its color due to the fact that bees, in addition to nectar, begin to collect honeydew and some other components from plants. For example, honeydew is a sweet substance left behind by herbivorous insects.
Black color in honey may indicate that not all the combs in the hive have been filled. The most common reason is an unfavorable year, characterized by a lack of nectar or pollen on flowers. Therefore, insects, wanting to fill all the honeycombs in the hive without exception, were forced to collect additional components from the flowers.
But an unusual color is not a reason to consider a black beekeeping product “not honey.” It also has beneficial properties, although its composition is somewhat poorer.
Black varieties
This unusual honey variety looks like black coffee or chocolate - it is so rich, and its color is deep and mysterious. The following varieties of bee products are considered the best.
Egyptian
There is no separate black variety of Egyptian honey. This is a whole group of sweet products, which includes cane and caraway varieties of bee products. More precisely, one of these types of honey is made by bees, but the second is not.
Cumin
Bees collect nectar for it in the highlands of Egypt from the surface of black cumin. The bee product is characterized by a chocolate color, despite the fact that the color of the plant's umbrella inflorescences is white. The secret is simple: the culture is light only on the outside, but on the inside it is dark. Therefore, honey immediately darkens after the bees process the collected raw materials.
Cane black honey is an amazing product. Egyptians never consume it just like that: they save the sweetness for a special occasion. It is not without reason that they consider it a valuable medicine, because the product has proven its benefits and effectiveness in the fight against many diseases.
Reed
This type of sweet substance also has an unusually deep dark color. But the mass is not honey, since it is not produced by bees.
The cane sweet product is the so-called Egyptian molasses.
It is obtained from cane juice, and in its composition it is more similar to an extract. In the original language, this “honey” is called molasses.
Sweetness does not have any special beneficial properties when compared with a true bee product. This is simply a confectionery treat that is perfect for use in cooking.
Honeydew
Honeydew honey does not always resemble resin in color. Sometimes it can differ in chocolate or cognac tones - its palette depends on the specific honey plant from which honeydew or honeydew was collected. An important role is played by the place of collection of raw materials, climate zone, color of honey flowers, tree species and many other factors.
The most common types of honeydew honey are the following bee products:
- spruce;
- fir;
- pine;
- larch.
As you can see, honeydew black honey is obtained mainly when bees collect honeydew from coniferous trees. The product has exquisite taste properties with a distinct pine aftertaste. Additionally, greenish veins may be visible in it, which are a distinctive feature of such sweetness.
Taiga black honey
This unusual product has not only a deep, rich black color, but also a red tint. This range is given to it by coniferous honey plants growing in the taiga.
And vice versa: an increased concentration of pollen from forbs makes the beekeeping product lighter.
Useful and harmful properties
Of all the existing varieties of black honey, the Egyptian product obtained from caraway flowers is considered the most useful. It has an impressive list of healing properties thanks to:
- antibacterial properties;
- pain-relieving abilities;
- anti-inflammatory activity;
- immunostimulating effect;
- regenerating, wound-healing effects;
- ability to tone the body.
Black honey is considered a remedy for, if not all, then certainly many diseases. It is recommended to use it for:
- stomach pain;
- liver diseases;
- pathological lesions of the gallbladder;
- colds;
- intestinal disorders;
- cardiovascular disorders;
- dermatological diseases.
It is useful to consume black honey for elevated body temperature, sore throat, and eye pathologies. Complicated inflammations occurring in the body pass much faster under the influence of the sweet component of this variety.
Bee products are also used in cosmetology. Based on it, masks are made for the skin of the face and body, hair, and nails. It is dissolved in water for further use for softening baths for dry calluses, corns, rough skin of the feet or heels.
But, despite all the beneficial properties, such honey also has contraindications. It is not recommended to use it if you have:
- allergies to bee products;
- excess body weight;
- exacerbation of chronic diseases of the digestive tract;
- oncological processes in the body;
- diabetes mellitus
Without a doctor's permission, black honey varieties should not be included in the diet during pregnancy and lactation.
How to use it correctly
Black honey varieties do not need to be taken daily.It is better to use them for a specific purpose: for example, to strengthen the immune system or treat certain diseases.
The product should be taken on an empty stomach, half an hour before meals. A single dosage of the product for an adult is 10 milliliters. You need to use the sweet medicine for 2 months, and then you should take a break.
Before taking, the substance must be mixed in a glass of warm tea or milk, and then immediately drink the resulting solution. This drink invigorates well, increases energy reserves, facilitates nasal breathing, and softens the throat.
When is black honey not honey?
The described variety of cane sweet product, as is already known, is not considered full-fledged honey. These are the remains of the sweet substance that remains after the cane is processed. Essentially, it is just boiled down sugar syrup, although it has a pleasant taste. It is characterized by a caramel smell, uniform consistency, and lack of crystallization. The calorie content of the product is 290 kilocalories per 100 grams of sweet mass.
Black honey is an unusual but useful variety of beekeeping product. Despite the low concentration of vitamins, it contains many minerals, amino acids, and phytohormones. But among several of the most popular varieties of delicacy there is a counterfeit sweet that has no special value except for its pleasant taste and aroma. Therefore, it is used only in cooking.
