Post by Trade facilitator on Sept 20, 2019 23:54:05 GMT 1
Honey is a pure, unfiltered and unpasteurized sweetener made by bees from the nectar of flowers. Honey is collected from wild bee colonies or from domesticated beehives. Wild bee nests are sometimes located by following a honeyguide bird.
The bees may first be pacified by using smoke from a bee smoker. The smoke triggers a feeding instinct making them less aggressive and the smoke obscures the pheromones the bees use to communicate.
On average, a hive will produce about 65 pounds (29 kg) of honey per year. The honey is stored in honeycombs.
The honeycomb is removed from the hive and the honey may be extracted from that, either by crushing or by using a honey extractor. The honey is then usually filtered to remove beeswax and other debris.
Honey has high levels of monosaccharides, fructose, and glucose, and it contains about 70 to 80 percent sugar, which provides its sweet taste.
The flavor of a particular type of honey will vary based on the types of flower from which the nectar was harvested.
Honey has antiseptic and antibacterial properties. Modern medical science has managed to find uses for honey in chronic wound management and combating infection.
Nigeria currently produces about 15,000 tonnes of honey and 2,500 tonnes of bee wax annually, less than three per cent of her potential 800,000 and 70,000 tonnes respectively.
Benefits of honey:
- It replaces added sugar in the diet
- Natural Energy Source
- Honey can be used to treat a wide array of illnesses, ailments, and injuries.
- Helps to fight infections
- Honey can help to control diabetes
- Natural source office energy
Most of the honey consumed today is processed honey that’s been heated and filtered since it was gathered from the hive.
Nigeria has resources that, if effectively utilised, can scale up food production for internal consumption, improve livelihoods and the economy for foreign exchange earnings.
It's good to know that the Federation of Bee keepers Association of Nigeria has said that the country is set to start exporting honey by 2018.
Both raw and pasteurized forms of honey are available. Raw honey is removed from the hive and bottled directly, and as such will contain trace amounts of yeast, wax, and pollen.
Unlike processed honey that has been heated and processed to remove impurities, raw honey does not get robbed of its incredible nutritional value and health powers. It can help with everything from low energy to sleep problems to seasonal allergies.
Consuming local raw honey is believed to help with seasonal allergies, due to repeated exposure to the pollen in the area and may even help weight-loss efforts when compared to diets containing sugar or high fructose corn syrup.
Honey is used as raw material for production of medicine, original honey can cure over 201 ailments and this amongst other uses in the cosmetic industry has continued to fuel the demand for raw natural honey all over the world.
Due to the different reasons that affects the quality of honey during production, there are different types of honey namely sugarcane honey, hybrid honey and wild honey.
For medical purpose, wild honey is the best and usually the most expensive. It can be used to treat cough, ulcer, measles, catarrh, pimples, pile, boil, whit low etc.
Honey can replace sugar in meals, providing a healthier option.
Honey market
To penetrate the local market, the seller would have to carry proper packaging of the product in transparent bottles with an appropriate label.
Packaging of honey for export is better in jerry cans to make it easier.
It is also advisable that the seller or exporter send samples of the product to be exported to the buyer, so that the buyer can confirm the quality of the product and place the bulk order.
To export honey, the exporter would have to register with Nigerian Export Promotion Council {NEPC}, but when the target is the local market, the product would be registered with the National Agency for Food and Drug Administration Control {NAFDAC} in Nigeria.
