Honey

Honey bee

Description

A sweet, viscous fluid produced by bees from the nectar of flowers. Honey is a mixture of fructose, glucose, dextrose and water (~14-20%) with trace amounts of enzymes and oils. Its composition varies slightly depending on the source of nectar. Honey was used since early times as a sweetener and as a plasticizing additive to watercolors, tempera, size, and glair.

Honey bee

Synonyms and Related Terms

med (Ces.); honning (Dan., Nor.); Honig (Deut.); miel (Esp., Fr.); miele (It.); honing (Ned.); miód (Pol.); mel (Port.); honung (Sven.)

Other Properties

Soluble in water. May granulate at 50º and 65º F (10º and 18º C). pH = 3.2-4.5

Additional Information

University of Waikato: Honey Research Unit

Additional Images

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  Honey and biscuits

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  Honey bee

Authority

• R. J. Gettens, G.L. Stout, Painting Materials, A Short Encyclopaedia, Dover Publications, New York, 1966 Comment: p. 29; 20% water

• G.S.Brady, Materials Handbook, McGraw-Hill Book Co., New York, 1971 Comment: p. 95

• Encyclopedia Britannica, http://www.britannica.com Comment: "Honey." Encyclopædia Britannica. 2004. Encyclopædia Britannica Premium Service; water = 18% 14 Apr. 2004 .

• Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia, at http://www.wikipedia.com Comment: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Honey (Accessed Feb. 2, 2006) - water = 14-18%

• Richard S. Lewis, Hawley's Condensed Chemical Dictionary, Van Nostrand Reinhold, New York, 10th ed., 1993

• Van Nostrand's Scientific Encyclopedia, Douglas M. Considine (ed.), Van Nostrand Reinhold, New York, 1976

• Random House, Webster's Encyclopedic Unabridged Dictionary of the English Language, Grammercy Book, New York, 1997

• The American Heritage Dictionary or Encarta, via Microsoft Bookshelf 98, Microsoft Corp., 1998