Honey is "manufactured" in one of the world's most efficient factories, the beehive. Bees may travel as far as 55,000 miles and visit more than two million flowers to gather enough nectar to make just a pound of honey.

The color and flavor of honey differ depending on the bees' nectar source (the blossoms). In fact, there are more than 300 unique kinds of honey in the United States, originating from such diverse floral sources as clover, eucalyptus and orange blossom. In general, lighter colored honeys are mild in flavor; while darker honeys are usually more robust in flavor.

Honey is primarily composed of fructose, glucose and water. It also contains other sugars as well trace enzymes, minerals, vitamins and amino acids.

The Honey Bees' Second Shift

In addition to gathering nectar to produce honey, honey bees perform a vital second function--pollination. About one-third of the human diet is derived from insect-pollinated plants, and honey bees are responsible for 80 percent of this pollination.

Pollination is the fertilization of a flowering plant. It occurs when pollen is transferred from the anthers of a flower to the ovules of that or another flower. Honey bees are responsible for pollinating a variety of fruits, vegetables, legumes and more.

The Delicious Forms of Honey

Most of us know honey as a sweet, golden liquid. But, in fact, honey can be found in a variety of forms.

Comb Honey

Comb honey is honey that comes as it was produced — in the honey bees' wax comb. The comb, as well as the honey, is edible!

Cut Comb

Cut comb honey is liquid honey that has added chunks of the honey comb in the jar. Also known as liquid-cut comb combination.

Dried Honey

Dried honey is honey that has been dehydrated.

Flavored/Fruited Honey

Flavored/Fruited honey is honey that has either fruit, coloring or flavoring added.

Honey stix

Honey stix consist of liquid honey in a straw.

Infused Honey

Infused honey is honey that has had flavors of herbs, spices, peels, etc. added to it by steeping.

Kosher Honey

Kosher honey is honey that is produced, processed and packaged in accordance with Jewish dietary regulations and certified by a Kosher organization.

Liquid Honey

Free of visible crystals, liquid honey is extracted from the honey comb by centrifugal force, gravity or straining. Because liquid honey mixes easily into a variety of foods, it's especially convenient for cooking and baking. Most of the honey produced in the United States is sold in the liquid form.

Naturally Crystallized Honey

Naturally crystallized honey is honey that part of the natural glucose content has spontaneously crystallized from solution as the monohydrate.

Organic Honey

Organic honey is honey that is produced, processed and packaged in accordance with USDA regulations on organic products and certified by a USDA certified agency or organization.

Whipped (or Cremed) Honey

While all honey will crystallize in time, whipped honey (also known as cremed honey or sugared honey) is brought to market in a crystallized state. The crystallization is controlled so that, at room temperature, the honey can be spread like butter. In many countries around the world, whipped honey is preferred to the liquid form.

Charmayne Marsh

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American Chemical Society

Honey fights cholesterol as well as some fruits and vegetables BOSTON, Aug. 19 — Don't like spinach? Try honey. It contains about the same level of plaque-fighting antioxidants as the leafy green stuff. And according to research presented at the national meeting of the American Chemical Society, the world's largest scientific society, the range of antioxidants in honey is comparable to that in apples, bananas, oranges and strawberries. A five-week study of blood from 25 men between the ages of 18 - 68 indicates that drinking a mixture of water and honey, about four tablespoons per 16-ounce glass, improved the antioxidant levels in their blood. Nicki Engeseth,

Ph.D., of the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, who conducted the study, says this means the sweet stuff may have the potential to protect against heart disease.

"It looks like honey is having a mild protective effect," Engeseth said. She added, however, that this should not be taken as an excuse to avoid fruits and vegetables.

Although it's been known for some time that honey contains varying levels of antioxidants — with dark honey generally having the most — this is the first in vivo study to consider how honey may affect human blood.

An earlier in vitro study by Engeseth's lab, which prompted the current research, showed that the darker the honey, the better it was at lifting antioxidant levels in the blood. The honeys tested (from darkest to lightest) were Buckwheat, Hawaiian Christmas Berry, Tupelo, Soybean, Clover, Fireweed and Acacia.

Engeseth's research group is now in the middle of a 12-week study with rabbits to determine if honey has an inhibitory effect on atherosclerosis, a form of heart disease often referred to as hardening of the arteries, a leading cause of death in the United States. She expects that results from the rabbit testing could be "more dramatic" than those of the shorter human blood study.

To get the same amount of antioxidants from honey that you would from some fruits and vegetables, you would have to eat an equivalent per-weight amount of honey, Engeseth pointed out. As that might be excessive, she noted, "People could incorporate more honey in places where they might be using some sort of sweetening agent, like sugar, and this might contribute a significant amount of

dietary phenolics."

Phenolics are chemical compounds that inhibit oxidation. Higher phenolic contents in foods tend to generate higher antioxidant levels.

Engeseth's research group at Urbana is currently collaborating with scientists at the University of Illinois at Chicago to evaluate honey’s ability to inhibit oral pathogenic bacteria, like Streptococcus mutans (S. mutans), which can cause tooth cavities.

"Some types of honey seem to be protective against these bacteria," Engeseth said. "Sage honey and Tupelo honey are two of the tested honeys to show the most inhibitory effects." Both fall in the middle of the dark to light range of honeys.

The research on inhibition of bacteria is still ongoing and the results are only preliminary, Engeseth cautioned.

Engeseth's group also looked at the antioxidant level in wine made with honey, which is called mead. "It's sort of comparable to white wine in terms of its antioxidant capability but it doesn't come anywhere close to red wine," Engeseth said. Mead is popular as a homemade wine.

The National Honey Board provided funding for Engeseth's research.

Nicki Engeseth, Ph.D., is an assistant professor of food chemistry at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, Department of Food Science and Human Nutrition, in Urbana, Ill.

This page was last updated: August 4, 2009

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