Honey is one of the best treats nature has to offer. Did you know that honey is the only food source produced by insects that people eat? It's just that good. You can use honey in baking, beauty aids, or you can eat it plain. The great thing about honey is that there are a lot of benefits to eating it! Below are some of the benefits and other fun facts and tips about honey!

The Benefits of Honey:

1) It helps prevent cancer and heart disease: Honey contains flavonoids which are antioxidants that help reduce the risk of some cancers and heart disease.

2) Honey can help reduce ulcers and other tummy disorders.

3) Honey is anti-bacterial, anti-fungal so it's good for you.

4) It can help increase athletic performance: Ancient athletes would eat dried figs and honey to help their performance; this has been verified with modern studies that show that honey is great for maintaining glycogen elves and improving recovery time faster than other sweeteners.

5) Honey can help reduce coughs and throat irritations: the next time you have a sore throat or cough add some honey to tea and drink up. It'll help.

6) It helps regulate blood sugar: Honey is a simple sugar, but it isn't the same as white sugar or artificial sweeteners. The combination of fructose and glucose helps the body regulate its blood sugar levels.

7) Honey helps heal burns and other wounds: If you apply honey to a wound it has been shown to be as effective as other conventional treatments.

8) Honey acts as a probiotic: Some varieties of honey have large amounts of bacteria, so it helps regulate you.

9) Honey can help you have beautiful skin: Honey's anti-bacterial qualities are great for the skin, and when used with other ingredients can be moisturizing and nourishing.

10) Honey can help with allergies: Some studies suggest that honey has the potential to clear up stuffy noses and ease allergies triggered allergies. This claim is still under investigation.

Types of honey:

There are 40 or more different types of honey; each one has a distinct taste! Here are some of the most popular types of honey:

• Alfalfa
• Blueberry
• Buckwheat-great for coughs
• Clover
• Manuka
• Orange Blossom
• Wildflower

Honey Tips and Fun Facts:

• Don't give honey to an infant. Honey is natural and is harmless for adults, but you shouldn't give honey to anyone under the age of one. There is a risk of botulism, the spores of botulism are found in dust and soil and this may make it into honey. Infants don't have the developed immune system adults have to defend against infection.
• In general the darker the honey the better its antibacterial and antioxidant power
• Honey is a natural sugar, but it is no better than ordinary sugars for dieters or people with diabetes.
• A tablespoon of honey has more carbs and calories than granulated white or brown sugar.
• In baking you can replace 1 cup of sugar with ¾ cup of honey and reduce the liquid in the recipe by ¼ cup. If you are using a recipe that does not call for sour cream or sour milk add a pinch of baking soda to reduce the acidity of the honey.
• If you bake with honey, lower the oven temperature 25 to 30 degrees to prevent over-cooking.
• Store honey at room temperature not in a refrigerator. Keep it covered and in a dry place.
• An adult worker bee's lifespan is about 45 days during summer months.
• Most bee colonies consists of 30,000 to 60, 000 bees.
• 99% percent of the bee colony is made up of female bees known as worker bees.
• Male bees are known as drones and do not have stingers, their sole purpose is to mate with queen.
• The queen bee can sting multiple times and not die.
• Honey bees dance to tell the other bees where the flowers are.
• Honey is the only food produced by an insect that people eat.
• Honey is the only food that includes all the substances necessary to sustain life, including enzymes, vitamins, minerals, and water.
• Each bee colony has its own unique smell so the bees can find it.
• Even bees eat honey, during the winter months they eat the honey the collected during warmer months. To keep warm they form a tight cluster in the hive to keep them and the queen warm.
• The queen bee can live up to 5 years and is the only bee to lay eggs.
• Honeybees never sleep.
• A single bee with visit 50 to 100 flowers on a single trip out of the hive.
• A typical beehive can make up to 400 pounds of honey per year.
• There are 20,000 species of bees, but only 4 make honey.
• Honey bees are the only bees that die after stinging
• Utah may be known as "The Beehive State" but the top honey-producing states include California, Florida, and South Dakota.
• Honey never spoils.
• There you have it, some fun facts on honey. I'm definitely going to start eating more honey! What's your favorite way to enjoy honey? Let us know below!