If you take a walk in the forest in the early morning or evening, you can see dew drops on the leaves of some trees. And if you decide to try them, you will be surprised to notice that the drops taste sweet. This dew is popularly called honey dew.
What is honey dew?
Do not confuse with a pad. Because honey dew is a sweet, sticky liquid that is found on the leaves of some trees, such as willow, ash, maple, hazel, oak, some fruit trees, and herbs. This dew appears with sharp fluctuations in temperature or humidity. That is why it stands out on the leaves in the morning and evening. The composition of honey dew includes water and sugar, and also, unlike nectar, it contains dextrin, acids, proteins and minerals. In ancient times, it was believed that honey dew falls on trees from the stars. And, strangely enough, this belief has been preserved for many centuries. And only in 1740, the French naturalist Reaumur found that honey dew is the allocation of some tree species.
Varieties of honey dew
As mentioned above, honey dew is often confused with honeydew. How do they differ? The fact is that some species of insects secrete a pad. These are sticky sweet secretions of grass lice, leaf flies, aphids and other insects that feed on the sweet juice of plants. The honeydew in its chemical composition is much more complicated than honeydew. It includes six-atom alcohols, nitrogenous and dextrose-like substances, as well as mineral salts. Ants love such honey dew very much, they even guard aphid colonies to enjoy sweet secretions.
Honey dew (beekeeping)
Sometimes bees instead of nectar collect honey dew and paddy, which contain much less sugar absorbed by bees. This honey is harmful to bees. Therefore, you can not leave it for the winter as food for insects. Fall honey can cause diarrhea and bee death.
Honey dew honey
Honey dew is a source of honeydew, which is very much appreciated in some countries. Still honey from such dew is called "Forest". It has a specific taste - moderately sweet, sometimes with sourness. Often gets a taste of the tree from which it was collected. Scientists agree that honeydew is less valuable than flower honey and is a poor quality product. But many absolutely disagree with this statement and believe that it is much more useful and has powerful healing properties. Therefore, beekeepers in many countries highly value this honey plant (honey dew).
Properties of honeydew
Since honey dew is a sweet secretion of some species of insects or plants, the composition of honeydew will greatly depend on these parameters. It is believed that the concentration of natural antibiotics in honeydew honey is much higher than in flower honey (about 1.7 times). And the amount of iron, salts of cobalt, manganese, phosphorus, protein and nitrogenous substances exceeds three and a half times. Other features of honey from the paddy include slow crystallization due to the low glucose content, a viscous structure. For those who don’t like the sweet-sweet taste of flower honey, cadet is a real find. It is moderately sweet, has a mild aroma.
Padev honey acts on the body as a probiotic. With the use of such honey, the microflora in the intestine improves, the number of necessary bacteria increases. This product contains a large amount of antioxidants, and therefore, it helps to remove free radicals from the body.
As mentioned above, honeydew contains a large amount of a natural antibiotic. As a result of the increased content of the enzyme, the body is better protected from bacteria and viruses. Due to the high content of amino acids and cobalt salts, this type of honey favorably affects the nervous system. The work of the brain improves, and consequently, the intellectual abilities. Pade honey can be used instead of artificial mineral additives, as it contains many minerals and salts.
