May 20th marks World Bee Day in honour of Anton Jansa, the pioneer of beekeeping who was born in 1734. The day is also used to acknowledge the role of bees as pollinators of the ecosystem.

“It is said that if bees go extinct, all of the flora will also become extent,” said Sidra Iqbal on her morning show Aaj Pakistan.

Bees are best known for their coordination and teamwork. The hardworking insects construct eight different kinds of honeycomb structures in their nests, each serving a unique purpose.

Out of the eight, the hexagonal structure is the one used to store eggs as well as honey. There are no gaps in this structure, which ensures no waste.

Four types of honey bees are found in Pakistan Giant honey bee (Apis dorsata), Eastern honey bee (Apis cerana), red dwarf honey bee (Apis florae) and the occidental specie western honey bee (Apis mellifera).

The western honey bee has the highest yield of honey.

The lives of honey bees revolve around the queen bee and they will do everything in their power to protect and serve her. The queen bee lays at least 15,000 eggs every day and can lay up to 2.5 million eggs during a single breeding season.

God has instilled healing properties in honey and it is also a part of traditional Prophetic (PBUH) medicine (tibe Nabwi).

“Honey made from berries is the best,” opined Aga Abbas a tibe Nabwi expert, “even people with diabetes can consume it and it will not cause their sugar to rise.”

Although, adding honey to water is not advised as that may dissolve sugar in the body faster, while the honey in question should also be pure.

Abbas shared these tips for checking if honey is real or just a concoction of sugar and water:

1- If you dip a bee’s wings in honey, it will be able to fly as soon as the honey dries. If it is not real its wings will stick together

2- Take a bit of honey in the palm of your hand, add a bit of Lahori salt, if the honey becomes salty it is not pure

3- If you put a drop of honey on paper and it seeps through the page, it is not pure

4- If you put honey in a glass and it does not sink to the bottom, it is pure, if not it isn’t

5- If you put pure honey in a bowl of water, it will take the shape of its nest

6- Impure honey will make noise when it is spread on a roti (bread) and heated, pure honey will not