What is the Secret of Honey’s Eternal Life?

Many components factor in to creating the secret of honey’s eternal vibrancy.

Honey is a unique composition that doesn’t spoil and is antimicrobial.

The one potential problem is for children under one year old. Honey can contain spores of the bacterium Clostridium botulinum and these can make a child sick, maybe even with botulism.

Part of the honey mystique is that it has a complex combination of sugars, minerals, enzymes, amino acids and hydrogen peroxide and all of that is in an acidic (pH range of 3-4.5) low water environment.

This 3:03 minute video exposes all the bees' secrets to eternal honey.

This sticky substance—called Bee Vomit by some humans—can literally last forever. It can be eaten thousands of years after it was first made by bees. Isn’t that a weird thought?

The most unique thing about honey is the bees themselves. As you know honey is made by bees—literally. First, they swallow nectar. The chemical composition in the bees’ stomach includes an enzyme called invertase, which transforms the nectar into fructose and glucose. Then when the worker bee regurgitates the nectar and spits it into a honeycomb to make honey it brings up another enzyme from its stomach called glucose oxidase (PDF) which turns the nectar mixture into gluconic acid and hydrogen peroxide. After this the worker bees do the “wing-flapping-dance” that acts like high-powered fans that dry out the honey mixture as it matures.

This explains why honey has been used as a healing remedy medicinally for centuries. Nothing can grow and survive in the honey, which creates a barrier against infections in wounds and is even known to suck moisture out of your wound when you put some honey on the surface to seal the cut.

The ancient Chinese used honey medicinally. Sumerian clay tablets recorded the fact that honey was prescribed in 30 percent of health cases. Ancient Egyptians made ointments and salves to treat eye and skin diseases along with other medicinal uses. It also formed a natural barrier so nothing bad could grow on a burn or wound.  

If you want your honey to remain potent and not spoil, keep it sealed and do not let water get inside or it may go off. This is one of the biggest secrets of maintaining eternal honey. Keep it dry.