Working bees are able to rise to a height of 50 m, therefore, in addition to herbaceous plants, flowering trees and shrubs are used to extract nectar. In the southern regions of Russia, linden is the most widespread among large honey plants (over 15 varieties grow). The nectar collected from the sun-drenched flowers is converted by bees into high-quality, healthy linden honey. Tons of this product are annually produced in the apiaries of Bashkiria, Siberia, the Caucasus, transported throughout the country and used in medicine, cooking, and cosmetology.
Features of linden honey
Deciduous tree with the Latin name Tilia is resistant to drought and cold. Its fragrant flowers are a source of large amounts of nectar. From one adult tree over the summer, you can get 15-20 kg of the finished sweet product.
The variety belongs to monofloral: linden blossom begins rather late, and insects come across few other plants suitable for extraction of nectar.
Important!
The peculiarity of the product is an admixture of sweet juice (honeydew) collected by bees from the leaves of the tree. This is one of the factors that determine what color lime honey will be after pumping out. The production of liquid by plants usually increases from sudden changes in air temperature.
Flower petals, leaves and tree buds, which contain many active ingredients, are used as medicines after being harvested and dried. Linden honey has the same beneficial properties, enhanced by bee enzymes. With its help, you can improve immunity, speed up recovery from certain diseases.
Looks like
The appearance of a nectar product depends on its degree of maturity, the amount of impurities, the period that has passed since the day it was pumped out of the hive. For example, in Burzyan linden honey extracted by bees, which live in the bees, there are additives of bee bread, wax, various plants, so it is brownish with a gray tint.
Important!
Young honey is liquid, transparent, rich in color. A mature linden product is extracted from the sealed cells of the honeycomb, rather thick, clarified. After 3-4 months of storage, it becomes like an opaque paste, consisting of tiny grains.
When heated, the crystals dissolve, but after a while the process of their formation continues. With proper storage, it is impossible to say which honey is healthier, liquid or thickened – their properties remain the same.
Color
Unripe linden nectar product is bright golden. The presence of honeydew gives it a coffee or pistachio hue, floral admixtures – a reddish one. As the moisture evaporates, the intensity of the color goes away, it becomes pale yellow.
The candied Bashkir linden honey is almost white due to the many small light grains. This is a sign of the homogeneity of its composition, the minimum amount of impurities. A pale yellow shade of the product is allowed after crystallization.
fragrance
By releasing a lot of nectar, the linden blossom spreads a fragrance that is felt at a distance of several meters from the tree. It attracts bees and other pollinators. To many, this fragrant smell reminds of the summer season, filled with warmth, light, and a slight buzz of insects.
After pumping out of the wax honeycomb, the honey emits a thick aroma, similar to the linden blossom. Having brewed tea with dried petals, you can smell the same smell – sweet, refreshing, with hints of bark heated by the hot sun.
Taste
The honey made from the caramel nectar that produces the lime blossom turns out to be very sweet. It has almost no bitterness, like other varieties, and the feeling of sweetness in the mouth lasts for a long time.
Unripe food is more astringent. As the honey crystallizes, the source of which was the linden blossom, it thickens, knits less. Its grains take longer to dissolve, but the aftertaste disappears faster.
Composition
Many elements contained in linden honey (there are more than 300 of them) are necessary for the human body for normal life. 4/5 of the natural sweetness consists of easily oxidized sugars, which serve as a source of energy. About 1/5 is occupied by water, which makes the consistency liquid.
Important!
When honey is pumped before the honeycomb cells are sealed with wax lids, it is dominated by sucrose. Part of the substance, as the product ripens, breaks down into glucose with fructose, and changes into maltose.
Linden honey contains a small amount of complex proteins that accelerate the transformation of substances, organic acids (citric, oxalic), and their derivatives (glutamine, lysine, phenylalanine). The sweet mass contains vitamins C (ascorbic acid), E (tocopherol), a number of group B compounds:
- thiamine;
- riboflavin;
- niacinamide;
- pantothenic acid;
- pyridoxine;
- biotin.
Honey is rich in minerals – phosphorus, magnesium, copper, zinc, iron. Their ratio roughly coincides with the composition of human blood. The combination of active substances makes the linden product a universal remedy for many diseases.
Crystallization
The sugar grains visible to the eye inside the liquid first appear 50-60 days after pumping out of the hive. Initially, the formed single particles sink to the bottom of the container. Honey gradually thickens, there are more white crystals. In 3-4 months, a fine-grained homogeneous mass is obtained, a portion of which is more convenient to separate with a knife than with a spoon. Far Eastern lime honey crystallizes faster than other varieties.
Important!
The hardened product remains beneficial to health, it still dissolves easily in drinking water or human saliva.
When honey is candied, it does not deteriorate for several years. It is important to store it in a closed container, avoiding contact with metal objects, moisture and dust, and heat from sunlight.
Caloric value
Although the bee product does not contain fat, the predominance of carbohydrates makes it very nutritious. The energy value depends on the amount of impurities, the degree of maturity and can range from 320 to 380 kcal per 100 g. A serving size of 1 tablespoon contains approximately 105 kcal, with 1 teaspoon – 3 times less.
When collect
Different types of linden do not bloom at the same time, besides, changing weather conditions may slightly shift the appearance of buds. The earliest date for the opening of the petals, when bees arrive to collect linden honey, is mid-June.
Important!
In many regions, the extraction of nectar from flowering trees begins no earlier than the first days of July. By this time, most of the herbaceous plants have already faded.
Linden honey plant is very sensitive to air temperature, humidity, lighting. A stable long-term flow is possible in warm, windless weather with an excess of the number of sunny days over rainy ones. Such conditions are suitable for the abundant production of aromatic nectar.
Useful properties of linden honey
The sweet product has a beneficial effect on most human organs when ingested. Application to the skin and hair improves their appearance. This effect is due to the variety of elements that are contained in the honey mass.
Useful properties of linden honey:
- supply of a number of vitamins, minerals, acids;
- positive effect on the digestive, cardiovascular systems;
- fight against infections;
- elimination of skin problems.
The remedy can be taken during stress to help the nervous system cope with stress, sleep better.
Source of vitamins and antioxidants
Organic compounds are involved in metabolic processes. Linden flower honey, supplementing food, provides the supply of B vitamins. There is enough of it to prevent the unpleasant consequences of their lack. Ascorbic acid, tocopherol slow down metabolic reactions inside cells, protect against toxic substances. Cosmetics based on honey do not deteriorate longer than others.
Antibacterial properties
Phytoncides that get into the product from linden nectar and the enzymes of bee saliva destroy harmful microorganisms and stop their reproduction. A protective honey layer is created on the affected area of the skin or mucous membrane, under which the infection is eliminated much faster. The best result is obtained when used together with medications.
For sore throat and cough
For diseases of the upper respiratory tract, a sweet bee product is traditionally used in folk medicine. It coats an irritated throat, stops coughing attacks. The property of linden honey is appreciated to stimulate the release of mucus and phlegm by liquefying them, to reduce swelling of the mucous membranes. In the treatment of tonsillitis, antibacterial action is useful.
Toning property
A sweet high-calorie product, consisting of almost 80% carbohydrates, is easily absorbed by the body. When sugars are broken down, a large amount of energy is released, so linden honey has the ability to restore strength to a person who is undergoing long-term treatment, has lost a lot of weight, and is experiencing great physical and mental stress. Its use in the morning allows you to cheer up.
Soothes and heals the stomach
The benefits of linden honey are manifested in the elimination of inflammatory processes of the digestive system. With gastritis, ulcers on the mucous membrane, a natural medicine envelops the affected areas, relieves painful sensations, and stops the reproduction of harmful bacteria. The product improves digestion, improves intestinal motility.
Skin care
Honey masks, creams, ointments have been used for a long time to combat cosmetic defects. They relieve irritation, accelerate the healing of acne, wounds and burns. In addition, the active substances smooth out irregularities, moisturize the skin, and cleanse clogged pores.
Linden product is characterized by fast absorption, the creation of a thin protective film on the surface of the skin. It prevents excessive loss of fluid, the action of harmful environmental conditions, leaving no marks on clothes, bedding.
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Frequent increases in blood pressure are one of the reasons to start taking daily decoctions, infusions with lime blossom or honey mixtures. The substances contained in them gradually remove various deposits from the walls of blood vessels in order to facilitate the passage of blood, to reduce pressure. Linden sweetness is recommended for hypertension because of the great benefits for the body: normalization of the heart, helping the nervous system with stress, high stress, improving the quality of sleep.
Medicinal properties of linden honey
Most often, a bee product is used to accelerate recovery. Its effectiveness is manifested when using a natural medicine against diseases of the respiratory, digestive, cardiovascular systems.
Important!
Linden nectar honey helps with fever by stimulating perspiration, accelerating the elimination of toxic substances.
The tool can be used for prophylaxis during a period of rising colds (spring, autumn), in order to increase resistance to infections. This is not all that linden honey is useful for. It heals chronic inflammatory processes, produces a tonic effect, saturates the blood with iron and vitamins.
For women
The natural medicine is prized for its benefits for the face. It helps in the treatment of external inflammation, removal of edema, elimination of skin imperfections (wrinkles, acne, age spots). However, regular intake of the product inside is no less beneficial for women’s health: it normalizes hormones, reduces nervousness.
Stirred in boiled water, the product is used for infectious diseases of the genitourinary system (cystitis, vaginitis, candidiasis), erosions of the cervix. Tampons are moistened with the solution, douches and baths are made with it.
For men
A mixture of walnuts and honey is a common remedy for improving blood flow in the groin area, increasing male strength, and increasing sperm activity. It is advised to use it daily in case of problems with conception associated with impaired semen production. Inflammation of the prostate gland, urethra can also be treated with bee products.
Regular consumption of linden flower honey in food strengthens the heart muscle, helps to endure physical activity, accelerates recovery from injuries and operations. Alcohol tincture with it relieves joint pain, arthritis.
For children
Babies over the age of 3 are often given a natural cure for colds or to help them sleep at night. Honey tastes bitter, but children like it very much together with warm milk.
A small portion of the product can be used to lubricate bruises, insect bites to relieve tissue swelling. It accelerates the healing of wounds and burns.
Is it possible for linden honey during pregnancy
While carrying a child, women should minimize the use of bee products, be careful and moderate. The benefits and harms of linden honey for pregnant women have not been studied enough.
Important!
Sweet medicine can be taken against infectious diseases, anemia, to strengthen the immune system. But before choosing a suitable variety, you need to make sure that there are no contraindications.
It should be borne in mind that in pregnant women, the hormonal background changes greatly, therefore, there is often a temporary intolerance to various products, especially those with a high content of active substances.
In addition, in the blood of a woman expecting the birth of a child, the level of glucose may rise above normal. In this case, it is recommended not to use sweets, pastries. In some cases, you have to give up your favorite product during pregnancy, and then feed the baby with breast milk.
Recipes for linden honey treatment
Medicinal products that are supposed to be taken orally should not contain a large amount of bee products. The norm for an adult is 60 g per day. When treating a child under 12 years old, do not exceed the daily dosage of 15 g.
Most often, with the help of drinks, rinsing solutions, they eliminate the symptoms of colds (runny nose, cough, fever), oral infections. It is better to take the purest product for ingestion, for example, Burzyan lime honey from the Bashkir forests. When adding vegetable juices, herbal decoctions, berries (hawthorn, rose hips), the effectiveness of the product is enhanced.
External use relieves inflammation, treats sore joints. It is not recommended to apply linden honey directly to an open wound. Lotions, compresses with a sweet remedy accelerate cell regeneration.
Treatment of colds
The most important thing for defeating the disease is to strengthen the immune system. Regular intake of 1 cup of warm tea with lime blossom or honey and 5 ml of lemon juice is needed to prevent and treat colds.
To speed up your recovery, you can prepare a medicine from a sweet bee product, aloe, birch buds, linden flowers and olive oil. To brew the ingredients, you need 1 liter of water brought to a boil. 1/2 volume of liquid is poured from the container over 50 g of petals for half an hour. Pour 150 g of birch buds into the remaining water, keep it on low heat for 20 minutes, then insist for another half hour. Filter both broths through a sieve or cheesecloth, mix with 1 kg of honey, add 250 g of chopped aloe. The product must be supplemented with 100 ml of olive oil. The course of admission takes 7-10 days. The medicine is drunk 3 times a day, 1 tablespoon.
Treatment of cough
Linden honey compresses are often used to warm up the chest for colds. To calm an irritated throat and relieve coughing attacks, you can gradually dissolve a small portion (5-7 ml) of the product in the mouth. The same effect will be from a honey-garlic mixture – 30 chopped clove is taken for 1 ml.
At night, it is recommended to drink a natural medicine (250 tablespoon) dissolved in 1 ml of warm milk, which helps with coughing.
With a sore throat
Unpleasant sensations when swallowing are eliminated by rinsing with honey solutions. For 250 ml of warm water, 5 ml is enough.
Removing inflammation is facilitated by a decoction with the addition of 250 g of dried chamomile flowers. They need to be poured with 1 glass of boiling water, put on fire and wait for boiling. Then the resulting product is cooled, filtered, and lime honey is poured in (1 tsp). The broth is also used to gargle the throat up to 5-6 times a day.
With angina
A mixture of grated peel of an unripe walnut with 60 g of Altai honey helps against tonsillitis. The skin is boiled for 20 minutes over low heat in 1 glass of water. After cooling, mix with the honeycomb product. The agent is used every 4 hours, 5-7 ml.
With hepatitis
To combat inflammation of the liver, a decoction of medicinal herbs (St. John’s wort, immortelle, chamomile) with birch buds is used. All ingredients will need 15 g each. Pour 0,5 liters of boiling water over them and cook for 1 hour. When the liquid cools down to 40-50 ° C, 10-15 ml of linden product is added to it. The medicine is drunk on an empty stomach twice a day.
For diseases of the liver, gastrointestinal tract and kidneys
Arising problems in the work of the digestive organs are eliminated by the infusion of dried wormwood. With gastritis, it is taken with meals, so as not to irritate the mucous membrane of the stomach and intestines. Take 30 g of medicinal herb per 250 ml of boiling water. To this infusion, when it becomes warm, pour in 100 g of liquid linden honey. The container must be placed in a water bath for 10 minutes. The finished product is drunk 3 times a day in portions of 5 ml.
Contraindications to the use of linden honey
The characteristics of the sweet bee product allow its use at any age, except for infancy. The baby’s digestive system is not able to assimilate all the components of the processed linden nectar. For the same reason, a nursing mother should refrain from using it – active substances penetrate into breast milk.
Important!
It is recommended to offer the baby natural sweetness for the first time after he turns 2-2,5 years old. It is better to postpone this moment for a few more months if the child has a tendency to the appearance of a rash, redness on the skin from different foods.
You should not taste lime honey, lubricate your skin with it, if you know about an allergy to bee products, pollen. The result can be a strong negative reaction of the body. There is a way to check for allergies: you need to apply a drop to your wrist (elbow bend) and wait 10-15 minutes. If irritation occurs on the skin, it is better to stop using it.
All kinds of honey are banned for people with diabetes mellitus, serious myocardial dysfunctions, peptic ulcer disease. Sweetness can cause undesirable effects for them: an increase in the level of glucose in the blood, a deterioration in its coagulability, a load on the heart muscle.
The use of linden honey in cosmetology
The components of the natural medicine moisturize, protect, smooth the skin when applied to its surface, and improve the condition of the hair. Natural honey is often found in cosmetics for rejuvenation, removing age spots. You can do warming wraps with it.
When adding milk with lemon juice, a honey composition is obtained to soften rough skin on elbows and feet. Masks are applied to the face, neck, hair, balms and scrubs are rubbed over the body, ointments are used to heal inflamed areas.
Linden honey for beauty hair
Regular washing of hair with shampoo with bee products and a beaten egg helps to strengthen it, add shine and softness.
The mask, applied every 3 days to the hair, can lighten it by 1-2 tones. It contains, in addition to 60 g of lime honey, 10 drops of brandy and 2 chicken egg yolks. The mass is thoroughly mixed, heating if necessary, and then distributed through the hair from roots to ends. After half an hour, you need to wash your head.
Linden honey for facial skin
A moisturizing, rejuvenating agent with the addition of milk can smooth out superficial wrinkles. For its preparation, take 30 g of honey from linden nectar, 5 g of warm milk and 2-3 drops of onion juice. After application to the skin of the face, the mixture is washed off with cool water after 20 minutes.
Using 2-3 drops of lemon juice and castor oil as additives, you can get a purifying honey mask to improve skin tone. It will also help to cope with small wounds, acne.
Linden honey for weight loss
A diet aimed at getting rid of excess volumes usually involves avoiding sweets and other high-calorie foods.
High-quality honey, for example, produced in Altai, is combined with all programs for burning excess weight, if you follow the recommendations:
- Eat a small portion of the product in the morning.
- Drink enough clean drinking water.
- Be sure to eat foods with plant fibers.
Thanks to enzymes that accelerate metabolism and a calorie content lower than sugar, lime honey does not interfere with weight loss. With a carbohydrate diet, it is also permissible to include it in the diet in a small amount.
How to choose linden honey
Many varieties of the product produced by bees differ in color, aroma, consistency. In the absence of additives, the sweet mass is pale golden, fragrant. If the bribe from the trees was inconsistent, it turns out flower-linden honey. Its color is creamy or greenish.
Important!
Small amounts of pollen are allowed in the unrefined product. But there should be no foam – it appears during fermentation.
Seeing a liquid, sediment-free product from linden nectar 2,5-3 months after the end of the honey collection, you should not buy it. It was either recently warmed up, or fake, watered down. Flowing – only fresh honey.
You can ask how much the product costs. If it is of high quality, it will not be too cheap.
How to distinguish natural linden honey from a fake
It is advisable to buy bee products from recommended or familiar sellers, to request a quality certificate. Then there will be no doubt about the observance of the conditions for collecting nectar, storing sweetness after pumping out of the hive.
Please inspect the product carefully before purchasing. In some cases, it is possible to distinguish real honey from a fake by its appearance. A more serious analysis involves the launch of chemical reactions that reveal the addition of foreign components. Finally, you can transfer the purchased sweetness to the laboratory and find out what it consists of.
In appearance
When inspecting honey, it should be alerted by a too saturated yellow color, especially when it crystallizes, brown spots, a sharp or weak odor, unlike linden. In the lumen, you can find particles of debris, different sizes and shapes of sugary grains, the absence of sediment, if normally it should have already formed. These are signs of unnaturalness.
Important!
Real Altai linden honey and other types of honey leave a sweet taste in the mouth, a feeling of a slight sore throat.
Counterfeits often have no astringency, and the consistency is unnatural (watery or stone-hard). There is a way to distinguish linden honey from fake honey using a round wooden spoon. A fresh high-quality product envelops it in a thin layer, flows down in a continuous stream.
With the help of improvised means
The presence of the main additives that are mixed to give honey the desired appearance, taste, consistency can be determined both at home and in laboratory chemical analysis.
Natural sweetness completely dissolves in water, almost does not change its color and transparency, does not foam. Turbidity, the smell of hot caramel when heated to 40-50 ° C indicates the addition of sugar, molasses.
Important!
Chalk chips at home are detected with vinegar – honey with such an additive fizzes and bubbles. The presence of starch is checked with a drop of iodine. If this place has not turned blue, then the grains are natural.
It is advised to test liquid honey for naturalness by dipping a piece of meat in it. Natural preservatives keep food fresh for up to 4 days. Otherwise, the bee product is fake.
Linden or flower honey
It is believed that insects collect less high quality nectar from herbaceous plants than from trees. It usually contains more impurities. There is a possibility of getting some nectar from parasite-treated crops. Therefore, the question of which honey is better – linden or flower – can be unambiguously answered: the first. Especially if it was brought from a forest or mountain apiary.
Conclusion
Natural linden honey has spread due to its wonderful taste, unforgettable aroma. He has no equal among sweet bee products in terms of the number of useful properties. It serves as an adjunct to pharmaceutical medicines, in the treatment of many diseases, especially colds. With moderate use, not only the work of internal organs improves, but also the appearance of a person.
Reviews
Olga R., 26:
“Every summer we have a rest with our grandfather in Bashkiria, we bring a couple of jars of linden honey from his apiary. Slightly close in the throat, cough, body aches – in the evening before going to bed we drink sweetened milk. 2-3 days, and again he is healthy. While she was waiting for the baby, she was treated in the same way. Now my son is 5 months old. If he grows up, we will defeat all colds by the grandfather’s doctor. “
Alisa P., 33:
“I buy for myself and my parents. Linden honey is so sweet, tender, I eat with spoons! The husband does not lag behind. And I put it in porridge for my daughter – it is both tasty and healthy, it is eating it by both cheeks. I have never had an allergy, since I was 2 years old I treated her little by little. “
Evgeniy M., 53:
“After the anniversary, about a year later, the pressure began to rise. Didn’t want to take pills. On the advice of a friend, he began to eat a spoonful of linden honey in the morning. I do this for a month, then for almost half a year the pressure is normal, there is no tinnitus, everything is fine! “
