Honey

Honey

One of the most important exhibits of the Museum of Heraklion, a museum that preserves most of the secrets of the famous Minoan civilization, is an exquisite gold jewelry "two bees" that many say their love. This is a reliable witness to the relationship he had with the Cretan bee. Honey, this excellent sweetener, various sugars glucose that enable it to be used even in cases of diabetes mellitus. Still, it is a food rich in vitamins and antioxidants (anti-cancer) agents. 

The main vitamin honey (E) along with other substances, removes from the body harmful products derived either from his own metabolism or by external factors such as smoking, radiation, and various carcinogens. The Cretan honey is completely natural and is produced in areas with endemic vegetation. As is now known, the bio-system of the island is rich in endemic plants, particularly herbs. These offer the Cretan bees their favorite food.

Crete is a place rich in native plants, such as thyme, sage, bush, oregano, pine, acacia, bearberry, eucalyptus and of course the cultivated citrus. The processing of Cretan honey is also a natural way, without high temperatures destroy vitamins. According to official figures active in Crete 2206 counted 142,856 beekeepers with hives. Crete is ranked fourth in the National level reaching 1673 tons of honey until 2004. The bee in Crete, belongs to the genus Apis (species Apis mellifica). 

Older bees reared in different types of baskets, wooden boxes, in earthen pots, hollow tree trunks, etc. The apiarist simply took a few combs, the crushing and acquired a product of poor quality. The discovery of cell to cell and within the so-called artificial comb applied to frames made major changes:

Products Apiculture in Crete

Honey:

Thyme is recorded as a separate category because of the distinct and intense aroma and flavor characteristics and is the first demand, because even if mixed in small quantities (5%) with other types of honey, is crucial for the aroma.

Honey oil:

The honey oil is not considered stable annual production and the last five years, the weather conditions (hot, heavy rain) did not facilitate collection. So the main quantity of honey produced from the flowers, thyme and pine derived mainly from Sfakia and in "Selakiano" of Lassithi Crete. A common strategy for beekeepers is the physical mixing to achieve better honey So we mixed two consecutive flowering, oil-thyme, thyme-flower, flower-pine, pine-heath, and oil-flower. But what is important for the value of honey is the purity and not beaten in any way, whatever its origin.

Candles:

In most areas the wax is a by-product of beekeeping. The receipt is the time of harvest. The raw material is heated to 630 C, so the wax melts and rises to the surface they obtained, cooled, hardens and undergoes further processing to be used again in beekeeping production quality candles, cosmetics, agriculture, art and industry.

Pollen:

In a large hive annually accumulate 25-30 kg pollen quantity greater than that needed the flock.

Royal jelly:

It is the only food of the larvae of the queen, and is a rich of protein substance with many nutritional and therapeutic properties.

Propolis:

This kind of resin that bees collect from the buds of various trees. It has therapeutic and antibiotic properties, and is also used in the pharmaceutical.

Liquid sting glands - poison – bee:

To collect the fluid from the glands of the bee sting used a special technique. This liquid is used in pharmacy (rheumatoid arthritis) and desensitizing individuals are hypersensitive to bee sting.

Pollination

The major utility of bees is pollination. A modest colony has an estimated 20 to 40 times more value for pollination performed by members than to produce honey. Nowadays a large number of interventions in the environment predominantly fires and extensive monocultures have sharply reduce the number of wild pollinators. The involvement of the bee to complete the life cycle of plants, resulting from its own effort to survive is of paramount importance. Considering that constitutes about 80% of all species of pollinator insects.