Beehive products
HONEY
Honey production starts from the collection of nectar from flowers: bees collect and transport the nectar to the hive where it is processed by enzymes, which are chemical substances. However, the transformation into honey is completed inside the cells, through the loss of water. Once mature, the bees seal the cells with a wax cap that will allow the honey to be stored for a long time.
Honey is mainly composed of sugars (fructose and glucose) but it also contains other substances such as mineral salts, enzymes and vitamins (group B and C) which make it a healthy, complete and precious food.
In fact, honey is lighter and more digestible than sugar and is an ideal product to recover energy and sweeten foods. Furthermore, the fructose contained in honey has emollient properties, which have been highly appreciated since antiquity.
Depending on the type of flower from which the nectar is sucked, the honey changes in terms of flavor, smell, color, crystallization and properties. Honeys deriving from a single type of flower are called "unifloreali" or "monofloreali", while if it is nectar taken from various flowers it is called "polifloreale" or even "millefiori".
Pollen
Pollen is a colored powder, characterized by a chromatic scale ranging from yellow to black. This food is rich in vitamins, especially in group A and B, as well as sugars, minerals, enzymes and proteins. It is collected by foraging bees in cells, ready to consume it when needed. Like meat and fish, it contains many proteins.
Royal jelly
The royal jelly grows up from the secretions of the glands of the nursing bees, produced for the larvae but also for the queen bee, that lives up to 5 years thanks to this concentrated resource. The substance, in fact, contains almost all the vitamins, as well as proteins, sugars and minerals.
Propolis
Propolis is a substance that bees obtain from resins collected from bark and buds of different plants. It is a natural disinfectant, which is waterproof and resistant; normally it is also used by bees to seal cracks and make predators harmless. It is characterized by an intense smell and a variable color, depending on the plant. It is generally used for making herbal and pharmaceutical products.
Wax
The wax is produced by some particular glands present on the body of bee and is used to build the honeycombs.
Due to its properties, beeswax is used in the pharmaceutical and cosmetic sectors.