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In Greece, in early
prehistoric times, the art of apiculture took place for the first
time, thus we can find a plethora of myths related to honey. The most
characteristic mythical trust that reflects honey's special value for
Greeks is its consideration as the food of the Gods of Olympus known
as "ambrosia".
The importance of honey for the humans is also praised in several
classical texts of ancient Greece, such as Homer's Iliad and Odyssey,
the Deipnosophists of Athenaeus, and in philosophical texts of Plato,
Aristoteles, Democritus, and others.
The fact that Hippocrates, the father of medicine, emphasizes for the
nutritional and pharmaceutical value of honey is not accidental. It is
real that in ancient Greece, honey was used not only for its
nutritional value but even for medical purposes inter alia. |
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On the other hand, honey played an extremely important
role in cookery in ancient Greece as one of the basic ingredients in
cooking and confectionery. Its use in ancient Greek food recipes, and
it's a priority as the basic material for the preparation of sweets
and delicacies, made honey use very popular in ancient Greece.
Centuries later, the art of
apiculture passed to Romans and then, to the rest of the
world where immediately was incorporated to several people
mythology and history.
Due to its extended
development in various climatic habitats, honey it is
produced in the majority of the countries, consisting one
important nutritional source for the mankind. |
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The apiculture is the art of the bee cultivating in order to
produce honey. Honey is a fluid saccharine substance with a
special flavor. This flavor comes from the nectar of the plants
and flowers absorbed by the bee. The quality of the honey itself
depends on the type of the plant or flower visited by the bee.
The best honey comes from the thyme, lavender, rosemary,
lime-tree and orange-tree. The main factor for successful honey
productive areas is the variety of habitats able to give the
adequate quality of honey.
Honey, rich in micro-elements and vitamins, gives vitality and
energy, enables growth of body and mind and forms the basis of
the healthy nutrition. It is the natural "sweet remedy" for sore
throats, insomnia and the common cold. It effectively helps
regeneration of lung cells, particularly beneficial to smokers.
The excellent climatic conditions of the Greek land, combined
with abundantly growing indigenous herbs and plants, give Greek
honey its exceptionally unique clarity, colour, texture and
taste. Greek honey is one of the most precious products of Greek
Nature.
Honey bees take nectar from a flower, store it in a "honey sack
and when this honey sack is full they return to the hive,
deposit the drop of nectar into the honeycomb, and evaporate the
water out of the nectar by fanning their wings. Once the honey
has aged, wax is used to seal it in the comb, which keeps it
clean and safe.
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A honeybee makes 154 trips
for one teaspoon of honey. |
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A colony produces 60 to 100
pounds of honey a year. |
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To gather a pound of honey,
a bee flies a distance equal to more than three times
around the world. It takes two million flowers to make one
pound of honey. |
There are three classes of bees: queens, workers, and drones. In
a hive, there can be hundreds of drones, thousands of workers,
but always just one queen.
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