You want to know more about honey?You are reading the right  page ! Let's talk about the honey history ! 

What is honey ?

Honey is a sweet substance made by bees with nectar from flowers. The word "honey" dates back to the 10th century. Its origins come from the Latin "mel". 

How long has honey been around? 

Honey is one of humanity's first foods. Honey has been present on Earth for much longer than humans. The bees that make it appeared tens of millions of years ago. At first Men thought that the bees carried to the hive the honey they found on the plants. That's the reason why the scientific name for bees is « Apis mellifera » which means "honey-carrying bee ». Rock paintings have been found in Spain , South Africa or India and prove that the use and consumption of honey already existed. Moreover we were able to get a more precise idea of the time when men took a close interest in honey. From prehistorical times and even before, our ancestors already harvested honey to consume it. Honey was used to sweeten food. Honey has been used for health reasons since antiquity, beautify the skin and embalm the dead among the Egyptians. During the first and second world wars, it was used to accelerate the healing of soldiers' wounds.  

Honey’s evolution 

For a long time, the honey harvest was destructive to bee colonies: it either killed the bees or dislodged them. 

The end of the 18th century was a real revolution for bees: in fact "the hive with removable frames" appeared which allowed the beekeeper to take only part of the reserves without killing the colony of bees. Today, there is a very large number of different types of hives but none kill the bees. 

In the world

There are different types of honey:

- flower honey from the nectar of different flowers.

- monofloral honey : a dominant floral variety

-> accacia honey: mild flavour. Recommended for diabetics

-> sweet chestnut honey: powerful and pronounced taste

->  jujube honey: it's the dearest honey in the world 

There are about fifty types of honey in the world.

Why not try them!

Today more and more supermarkets sell "fake honey". In 2015, a study conducted by the european union shows that 32% of the honey which is sold is non-standard and shouldn't deserve the honey label. The true honey should only be done by bees in hives, but today a lot of brands are adding different sugars. These european tests complete the analysis carried out by the magazine "Que choisir" in 2014. According to this one, 1/3 of the first-price honeys would actually be modified.

How to find the real good honey ?

- In a supermarket, it's necessary to favor a precise origin and to avoid "Mixtures of honey originating from the EU and outside the EU".

- When it is from a beekeeper, the floral and geographical origin is verified. But beware of beekeepers who offer many types of honey; already 5 varieties represent a lot of work and more than that, would be fishy.

Make the right choice !

What about European production and consumption ?

Today in Europe, the total honey consumption is about 1.020.074.477 lbs so around 1,3 lb per year and per inhabitant.

The biggest consumer of honey is Greece with 3,3 lbs per year and per inhabitant. After that, there are Switzerland, Austria and Germany.

In this category, France is 15th with only about 1,3 lb of consumed honey per year and per inhabitant. Finally, the smallest consumer of honey is Poland with about 0,22 lb per year and per inhabitant.

Today in Europe, the total honey production is about 774.916.033,1 lbs.

The biggest honey producer in Europe is Ukraine with 165.126.000 lbs per year so around 21 % of the total production. After that, there are Russia, Spain and Romania.

France is a little honey producer with only 35.273.962 lb per year so around 5 % of the total production.

Finally the smallest producer is Italy with 26.455.471 lbs so around 3 % of the total production of honey.

(These informations are from the website of "Apinov". The numbers given by this study are from 2007).

What about world consumption and production ?

The biggest consumers of honey in the world are: the United States, France, Germany, England and Japan. These countries are considered like "consumers" because their productions doesn't cover half of their consumption.

For example, France produces about 35273961 lbs of honey every year and consumes about 76872986 lbs of honey every year. Among these five countries, it's the United States which are the biggest consumer ; they consume about 371.977.156 lbs of honey every year.

On the opposite, Mexico, Argentina and New-Zealand produce much more of honey than they consume. For example, Argentina produces about 178.574.432 lbs of honey every year while they consume about 2.808.689 lbs of honey every year.

Bees suck nectar from flowers and go to the hives. When one bee arrives in its hive, it gives the nectar to another bee, this bee gives the nectar to another bee and over and over again… it’s like factory work. At the end, honey has all the gastric juices of all the different bees and that makes the taste.