Research Paper Example about Honey

Honey is one of the largest and easiest to obtain resources in the world. We depend on bees to the work for us. Unfortunately, many different types of bees are dying out. Bees have been dying out for the last ten years, many news outlets try to cover this topic, but most people do not know that “Honeybees die of over-exhaustion attempting to reproduce the honey that they require; others die of starvation or malnutrition, while others develop weakened immune systems and contract diseases.” These causes are likely from a phenomenon known as “fake honey money laundering”. 

A honeybee is a flying insect with the ability to pollinate and produce honey. Honeybees are known for their production skills to reproduce variants of products from their hives. Honey, pollen, beeswax, and venom are used by humans for food and medicine. There are many different types of insects and bees who produce honey besides honeybees. Bumble bees can produce honey but are much slower and unreliable. Honeypot ants are also an insect that can produce honey, but they are not as captivating and normalized as honeybees. “Honey is created when bees suck the nectar out of a flower, regurgitate it, and process it with other bees back at the hive.” Honey is a sweet and thick liquid with high viscosity levels. Raw honey only contains beeswax and pollen to create the substance. Hives generally contain roughly “A single queen, hundreds of male drones and 20,000 to 80,000 female worker bees.” All these honeybees together form a colony.

Have you ever walked into a grocery store and investigated the bottle to find out what is supposedly in raw honey? Generally, raw honey is seen as pure. Raw honey contains beeswax and pollen to create the substance, the only variables found in a hive. Raw honey is a necessity for bee health as well as human health and consumption. Bees take a vacation in the winter. This “Vacation” is a break due to the lack of flowers to pollinate. Humans need honey for many different uses, including medicine or various food types. These needs are challenged in the winter. During this time, beekeepers are effectively out of commission for the season, we look to grocery stores. This presents what is known as “fake honey”. Fake honey is a money laundering scheme for mass honey producers. “Fake honey cut with corn syrup, rice, beet and other sugars is still pouring into Canada and onto grocery store shelves.” Fake honey is usually produced in China, but most honey labels will not state this fact. “Chinese honey sold in North America is more likely to be stamped as Indonesian, Malaysian or Taiwanese, due to a growing multimillion dollar laundering system.” Money laundering is a big problem in North America. 

Beekeepers normally get started as a hobby; farming bees requires lots of research and execution to keep the colony alive and thriving. Fake honey has effectively destroyed the beekeeping industry. Beekeepers are pressured to lower their overall prices on honey, selling can be difficult in the market of honey. Honey has a lesser value because it can be mass-produced. Fake honey that is manufactured in a warehouse made by machines is cheaper and more effective than beekeeping, but it chastises beekeepers. Beekeepers are unable to compete with machines and warehouses. Trying to compete with corporate machines results in honeybees and other bees becoming overworked and tired. Spending more time pollinating and wasting energy so beekeepers can upkeep their business. A beekeeper 

One of the main reasons we rely on raw honey is because we sometimes use honey as a healing property. As a child, you probably heard from your mother that warm tea with honey will make you feel better. Raw honey is a large part of Holistic medicine for Indigenous people of Canada, but science has proved that it also is an acceptable method of curing viral infections. Many of us may have grown up with the belief that raw honey will cure a sore throat. We typically see honey-flavoured cough lozenges, this is because honey coats the throat and cures inflammation. Many hospitals worldwide also depend on honey as the main component in caring for a wound. Honey has proven to treat burns as well as deep cuts or wounds. According to Penn Medicine, “Honey is one of the best remedies for a sore throat due to the natural antibacterial properties that allow it to act as a wound healer”. Honey is also a natural remedy for covid 19 symptoms. The viral infection that had deeply affected everyone all over the world can be eased with raw honey and lots of liquids. Fake honey does not provide such a systematic need, sugar and other additives will not heal us or conceal our wounds.