"Rose honey", "honeysuckle honey", "pine honey"... Recently, many "exotic honeys" have emerged on the Internet, claiming that rose honey can beautify and nourish, and honeysuckle honey has the effect of clearing heat and detoxifying, etc. However, Beijing Youth Daily reporters interviewed beekeeping experts and learned that some of the "exotic honeys" on the market are from plants that cannot secrete nectar, so it is unknown where the "rose honey" and "honeysuckle honey" come from. Experts pointed out that this type of "exotic honey" is suspected of commercial hype and consumers are advised to purchase with caution.

Phenomenon

Wild roses transformed into "rose honey" and sold more than 6,000 bottles a month

After searching for "rose honey" on Taobao, more than 4,000 search results appeared. After clicking into one of the stores called "Twelve Flower Fragrance Flagship Store", it was found that the store sold two types of "rose honey", one of which was sold in a single bottle, 500g/bottle, and priced at 19 yuan. Beijing Youth Daily reporters found that the cumulative evaluation of this product has reached 45,000, and the monthly sales volume is also more than 6,000 bottles. The other is a set of 3 bottles, 418g/bottle, priced at 49.1 yuan for three bottles, and the monthly sales volume is not low, more than 2,000 bottles.

In the product description, it can be seen that the owner claims that "Rose Honey" has the effects of beauty and nourishment. The origin is Yichun, Heilongjiang, and it is obtained by the local bees specially raised by the manufacturer to collect wild roses in Yichun, and the place of shipment is Langfang, Hebei. A reporter from Beijing Youth Daily asked the customer service about the honey extraction and production process of "Rose Honey". The customer service said: "The wild rose honey we sell is not domesticated roses, but wild roses, commonly known as "wild roses." In addition, the customer service emphasized: "Our product is pure wild rose honey, with a light floral scent, and has the effects of whitening and tenderizing the skin, fragrant body and calming the mind."

The true identity of "Snow Lotus Honey" is difficult to determine

In some stores, "Snow Lotus Honey" and "Snow Honey" are often listed as one kind of honey. What is the difference between the two? Take the "Xinruizheng Snow Lotus Honey" sold by "Changge Xinruizheng Bee Industry" as an example. A 500g can of Snow Lotus Honey is priced at 81.9 yuan. The packaging is marked with "Snow Lotus Honey" in large, eye-catching characters, but the product introduction uses "Snow Honey". In addition, according to the customer service, the origin of the honey is Xinjiang, but in the product introduction, the origin of the honey is Changbai Mountain.

When the Beijing Youth Daily reporter asked "Is it the nectar of snow lotus", the customer service replied: "This is actually linden honey, which is also called snow honey." So what is the relationship between snow honey and snow lotus honey? In response, the customer service said that "Snow Lotus Honey" is the same as "Snow Honey" because the crystal state of snow lotus honey looks like snow, so it is called "Snow Honey". Later, the customer service changed his words and denied that "Snow Lotus Honey" and "Linden Honey" are the same kind of honey, saying that the honey is produced from the high mountain snow lotus in Xinjiang.

"Honeysuckle honey" and "Ginkgo honey" are endowed with multiple functions

Unlike the above-mentioned "domestic honey", most of the "honeysuckle honey" sold online claim to be imported. Many product names clearly state "New Zealand imported honeysuckle honey", and in the product description, it is explained that it is honey from New Zealand honeysuckle, which is also known as "honeysuckle flower" and "is not the same plant as Chinese honeysuckle", but it is still claimed that the honey has the effect of "clearing heat and detoxifying", and the price is relatively high, 154 yuan/500g.

"Domestic" honeysuckle honey also claims to have the effect of reducing fire and clearing heat, such as the "Fengma" brand "honeysuckle honey" sold by "Congcheng Lixiang Specialty Store", which mentions in the product features that "honeysuckle honey, clears heat and detoxifies, purges fire, clears and purges heart, liver and stomach fire, and effectively prevents colds."

"Ginkgo honey" is also given the effects of "antibacterial and anti-inflammatory, lowering blood pressure and lipids". The owner of "Treasure of Wild Bees" said that the ginkgo honey sold in the store is produced in the World Geopark, a national 5A-level scenic spot, and the Longhushan Beekeeping Garden in Yingtan, Jiangxi. When the ginkgo blossoms are in bloom, bees collect ginkgo flowers to make honey. "It is not the blended honey on the market. Our honey is 100% pure natural, not the blended honey processed with ginkgo flowers." The owner emphasized. Regarding the claimed effects of "lowering blood lipids and blood pressure", the owner said: "The flavonoids and bitter lactones in ginkgo honey have special preventive and therapeutic effects on cerebral thrombosis, senile dementia, hypertension, hyperlipidemia, coronary heart disease, arteriosclerosis, brain function impairment and other diseases."

"Pine honey" is mostly unpackaged

"Pine honey" seems to be more original, with simple plastic packaging, no labels or trademarks. The 500g can of "pine honey" sold at the "Lifang Local Products" store is priced at 79.9 yuan. The owner said that it is canned by himself without processing. The honey is produced in Hui County, Longnan, Gansu Province. It is directly collected from pine trees and has a bitter taste. The same is true for the "Du Pei Da Da" and "Nongjia Herbal Medicine Shop" stores. The 500g tree hole pine honey is priced at 64 to 67 yuan, and it is also a simple plastic package without a label.

Investigation

Rose, pine, ginkgo, etc. cannot secrete nectar

Professor Hu Fuliang, director of the Silkworm and Bee Research Institute of Zhejiang University and vice president of the Chinese Beekeeping Society, introduced that for the various honeys on the market, the raw materials and brewing process of honey must be clarified first. Honey is a natural sweet substance that bees collect nectar, secretions or honeydew from plants, mix with their own secretions, and then fully brew.

Honey mainly comes from plant nectar, which is the secretion of the nectary glands in the flowers of plants. Next are honeydew and nectar. Honeydew is the secretion of the nectar glands outside the flowers of plants, while nectar is the sugary metabolite excreted on the surface of plants by insects such as aphids, scale insects, and leafhoppers. Bees collect these raw materials through their mouthparts, temporarily store them in the honey sacs in their bodies, transport them back to the hive, and spit them out in the nest cells. The house bees mix them with their own secretions and brew them repeatedly.

The raw materials of honey come from the above three types, but not all plants with honey can produce honey. For example, camellia, because the potassium ion content in camellia nectar is too high and contains alkaloids, it can cause bee poisoning. There are also some plants that do not have nectar glands and cannot secrete nectar, such as roses, peach trees, ginkgo, etc. These plants have pollen but no honey. Another example is pine trees, which can form pine pollen with a high yield, but there is no honey. There is imported pine honey on the market, which is a kind of nectar formed by bees collecting the excrement of scale insects on pine trees.

Snow lotus honey and honeysuckle honey are difficult to collect

Regarding the "snow lotus honey" that has appeared on the market, Professor Hu pointed out that although we do not know whether snow lotus has nectar glands, there is definitely no snow lotus honey on the snowy mountains, because the temperature is too low and bees cannot fly at all. Although honeysuckle has nectar glands, they are located at the bottom of the flower. Because the flower tube is thin and long, and the bee's kiss is short, it is difficult to collect honey. In addition, artificially cultivated honeysuckle is usually harvested before the corolla is fully opened, so it is difficult to form commercial honey. It is said that there are some wild honeysuckle growing in central and southern Shanxi, but even if bees go to collect it, its output is very limited. Most of the honeysuckle honey on the market is made by soaking the budding honeysuckle buds with other honeys.

Suggestions

Exotic honey is suspected of commercial hype, consumers are advised to buy with caution

"Now some businesses seek commercial interests and launch various exotic honeys, such as honeysuckle honey that claims to have a cooling and detoxifying effect, and rose honey with an attractive fragrance. I think they are all commercial hype to cater to the curiosity of some consumers." Professor Hu said: "I recently asked a merchant where the snow lotus honey came from. The other party said that their honey was collected from Tianshan Mountain. Obviously, it cannot be determined that the snow lotus honey brewed by bees is just for this reason. Compared with offline physical enterprises that are subject to greater government supervision, online sales merchants often take advantage of lax supervision."

He suggested that when consumers buy honey, they should try to buy from regular companies and big brands, establish correct consumption concepts, and not pursue so-called novel things, "because from the results of scientific research, the nutritional value and physiological activity of different types of honey are not much different, so don't pursue strange honey."

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