Delicious UK - (04)April 2020

T

hehoneybeeisintrouble.Along

withotherpollinators,itshabitats

arebeinglosttoagriculture,

urbanisationanddeforestation.There

areotherthreats,too:pollutantsand

pesticides,climatechange,diseasesand

invasivespecies.It’snota prettypicture.

Astudypublishedlastyearsurveyed

beekeepersin 36 countries,includingthe

UK,andfoundthatofoverhalfa million

honeybeecolonies, 16 percentwerelost

duringthewinterof2017-2018.Northern

IrelandandEnglandreportedlosses

above 25 percent.IntheUSA, 50 billion

honeybeesdiedlastwinter– that’sa

shockingonethirdofallcommercialbees.

Weshouldbeworried.AsSimonPotts,

professorofBiodiversityandEcosystem

ScienceatReadingUniversity,says,

“Pollinatorssuchashoneybeesare

essentialforourfoodproductionand

foodsecurity.Aboutthreequartersofall

ourfoodcropsbenefitfrompollination.”

It’stimetocreatea buzzabouthoney

anditscreators,sowe’veputtogether

threefabulousrecipesthatmakehoney

thehero.Wealsogotonthebuzzertoan

urbanbeekeeperandgatheredthefacts

youneedtoknowtobea clued-upshopper,

cannycookandall-roundbeelover.

STICKYISSUES:THEHONEYFACTS

WHYISSOMEHONEYRUNNYAND

SOMESET?It’sdowntothebalanceof

fructoseandglucose,thesugarsthat

makeup 70 percentofhoney.High-

fructosewildflowerhoneyisclearand

liquid,whileglucose-richhoneyfrom

oilseedrape,forexample,hasa harder

set.Commercialrunnyhoneyis

refinedtomakeit fluid.

WHYDOESITCRYSTALLISE?Glucose

ispronetocrystallising,creating

grainy,cloudyhoney.Crystallised

honeyisfinetoeat,butyoucan

partiallysubmergethejarinhot

watertoreversetheprocess.

WHYISMANUK AHONEYSPECIAL?

It’smadebybeesforagingonNew

Zealand’smanukabush.Unlikeother

honeysit containsmethylglyoxal,

whichhasantimicrobialproperties (if

usedexternally– there’snoevidence

thateatingthehoneyhasbenefits). →

RECIPESSAMANTHACOUTTS&SOPHIEAUSTEN-SMITH

PHOTOGRAPHSCHRISCOURT&NASSIMAROTHAKER

FOODST YLINGKIRSTENJENKINS&SOPHIEAUSTEN-SMITHSTYLINGSARAH BIRKS

60 deliciousmagazine.co.uk

L iquid gold

One of nature’s great creations, honey has been prized for thousands of years.

But with bee populations under threat, it’s time to celebrate the world’s oldest

sweetener and find out how to help protect its busy, buzzing creators