Honey

Question 1

How can you collect honey?

Answer 1

Centrifugation
On the honeycomb
By pressing

Question 2

What happens to honey after it has been collected?

Answer 2

Mild heating
Filtration
(‘Baker’s honey’ is produced by pasteurising to 60-62 degrees)

Question 3

What are the 4 types of honey?

Answer 3

Honeycomb: untouched by humans, straight from hive, has the most goodness in but will granulate quickest (lasts the least amount of time)
Raw honey: extracted and cleaned at room temp, will granulate quickly and separate into liquid fructose on top, granular glucose on bottom
Filtered with minimal heat: extracted and cleaned, heated to 40oC. Will granulate in 2-6 months
Pasteurised honey: extracted and cleaned using flash heating to a high temp, filtered, quickly cooled. Contains little natural goodness, but will last over 9 months without granulating

Question 4

Give some diseases of bees

Answer 4

Acariosis of honey bees (caused by Acarapis woodi mite)
American foulbrood-notifiable
European foulbrood-notifiable (twisted white larvae, unpleasant sour smell)
Varroosis-notifiable (red mite, feeds on haemolymph of larvae)

Question 5

Give some microbial inhibitory properties of honey

Answer 5

Low water activity (0.5-0.6)
Low pH 3.4 - 5.5 (acidic)
Glucose oxidase system
Low protein content
Low redox potential
Contains antioxidants

Question 6

What controls are in place for public health?

Answer 6

Microbial contamination (no official surveillance)
Residues: official surveillance (tetracyclines, heavy metals, mycotoxins, pesticides)

Question 7

What are the main concerns regarding microbes in honey?

Answer 7

Yeasts

Spore-forming bacteria ie Clostridium botulinum

Question 8

Why should honey not be given to infants under 1 year old?

Answer 8

Risk of infant botulism (botulinum toxin produced in gut)

Question 9

How can you detect Clostridium botulinum in honey?

Answer 9

Culturing for 3-5 days, testing for toxin in mouse bio-assay

Question 10

How is Clostridium able to survive in honey?

Answer 10

None of the processing techniques removes or inactivates spores
Heating over 100oC kills C.botulinum but caramelises the honey so isn’t done
Centrifugation to remove spores is not feasible as it would also remove pollen

Question 11

How is the water content of honey altered in the hive?

Answer 11

Reduced from 70% to 20%