About 99 percent of all German beekeepers are hobby beekeepers. They do produce it – but many of them have little time to market it in addition to their full-time jobs.
Remedy sought by nearBees platform. Local beekeepers can find a regional audience on this online marketplace.
11. Everyone can become a hobby beekeeper (but men do it more often)
Do-it-yourself is the trend: hobby beekeepers not only bring delicious homemade honey into their homes, but also support local bees. This is important because our food is largely secured by the work of bees: about one-third of our food crops depend on their pollination.
However, one should inform oneself thoroughly before acquiring a bee colony: Beekeeping takes time, effort and money. By the way: according to the German Beekeepers’ Association, in 2021 only one in five beekeepers:in was a beekeeper.
- Utopia shows you what you need – in the posts Beekeeping for beginners and Saving bees in the city: what you can do.
12. Honey is natural – most of the time
Honey is a natural product and must therefore be sold in its natural state. In some cases, however, additives of foreign sugars or starch could be detected (Stiftung Warentest).
Varietal products consist of honey of a certain variety (trees, wildflowers…). They are not always as pure as they sound: Many other types of pollen are often detectable, unlike what the label suggests. But it’s also hard to prevent that in nature.
13. Definitely unhealthy: honey as a risk
Honey is not healthy for allergy sufferers. You may be hypersensitive to pollen, residues of which may be present. Imported products may also contain pollen from genetically modified plants under certain circumstances. In some varieties, u.a. oko-Test also found foreign particles such as microplastics.
Especially honeys from South and Central America sometimes contain carcinogenic or otherwise unhealthy plant substances in questionable concentrations. Some varieties can hide active ingredients from poisonous plants, such as Pontic honey, those of rosemary heather and varieties from New Zealand. Such products are not necessarily healthy, but are rarely sold.
In Germany, honey itself is a strictly controlled food, which must meet high quality standards, so you do not run major health risks by eating domestic products. Whether it is healthy then, however, depends above all on the quantity: Now and then a little does not harm, daily much however already. It is mainly sugar.
14. Honey is a home remedy
Hundreds of recipes are circulating on the Internet to curb skin blemishes or to care for the skin with it. However, these health effects are not considered to be sufficiently scientifically proven. Also as means for the Wundheilung the yellow gold is in the discussion, sufficiently occupied is however also that not.
However: It will not do any harm. You can also try honey as a home remedy for colds or to help you fall asleep: read how to make your own cough syrup. However, because of the many calories, you should not overdo it permanently.
15. Honey is not healthy for young children
Is honey healthy for young children? This question is asked by many, precisely because it is considered so healthy for adults.
- For Infants Honey is not healthy,
- Infants up to one year one should give as a precaution no honey. It may, in very rare cases, contain a bacterium that can cause infant botulism in young children.
Very few cases are known, but to be on the safe side, scientists still recommend avoiding them for the first twelve months. The only The exception is infant formula, here the manufacturer must ensure that the product is germ-free.
If you can’t give it to small children, can you eat it when pregnant? The answer is: yes, you are allowed to. The intestinal flora is able to kill the pathogen, so there is no risk to the unborn child.