Dark Honey, Naturally Superior
Musanya’s raw honey from the remote Miombo Woodlands in Africa has a distinctive dark colour that provides a clue to its natural superiority.
We’re always talking about the quality of the honey we harvest. Of course we are. We love the flavour, we love its purity and best of all, we are proud of how our honey is changing lives in remote parts of Africa. It’s easy to get swept up in the feel-good stories of our small-scale beekeepers, but how good is the honey actually?
We’re always talking about the quality of the honey we harvest. Of course we are. We love the flavour, we love its purity and best of all, we are proud of how our honey is changing lives in remote parts of Africa. It’s easy to get swept up in the feel-good stories of our small-scale beekeepers, but how good is the honey actually?
The first thing to note about the honey we get from the Miombo Woodlands of North West Zambia is that it is harvested in a very remote region. There are no cities here. There is no industrial activity. Petro-chemical pollution is therefore unknown.
In such a remote setting, and with a population invariably living on less than a dollar a day, ‘industry’ is very much on a subsistence level. Trees are felled with axes and beams for building prepared with adzes and hand-saws.
Clearing and tilling land is done with hand tools and there is definitely no finance for commercial fertilisers, pesticides or fungicides. The woodlands, and the villages scattered throughout the region are relatively untouched by chemicals or pollution.
Everything is done the old-fashioned way, as electricity is a rare luxury. One of our team recently brough a treadle-powered sewing machine back from repair for a village tailor. Cooking with electricity is unheard of, hence the pressure being placed on indigenous trees by charcoal manufacture.
What this means is that the little scutellata bees that produce honey here, do so in a state of pristine nature. They work with the wild flowers of the indigenous, semi-deciduous trees that bloom at various times of the year, producing a multi-floral honey of exceptional quality.
One of the signature attributes of our honey, apart from its unrivalled purity, is its dark amber colour. According to independent research, darker honey tends to be richer in anti-oxidants. Considering the high quality of the nectar source for the bees, and the fact that pesticides are virtually unknown here, it stands to reason that the anti-oxidant properties of Miombo Woodland honey are very high.
Antioxidants are an increasingly important touchstone in the path to natural health in humans. They combat ‘free radicals’ associated with cell damage in the aging process and may also help stave off chronic diseases such as cancer and heart disease. Much research has been done to understand the role antioxidant compounds in honey (called polyphenols) could play in preventing heart disease.
Research has also shown that raw honey can act as an antiseptic in combatting bacteria and fungus, especially in treating burn wounds. It has in fact been used in traditional medicine since time immemorial. We even come across burns and abrasions being treated with honey straight from the hive in remote woodland communities.
All these benefits come from phytonutrients which are compounds found in plants that help protect them from harm. In a completely natural setting like the Miombo Woodlands of Northern Zambia, plants have evolved compounds that protect them from certain insects, from fungal infestation, even from sun damage.
As the bees collect nectar, these compounds are processed and incorporated into their honey. This is how we explain honey’s antioxidant characteristics, as well as its antibacterial and antifungal properties. They’re also thought to be the reason raw honey has shown immune-boosting and anti-cancer benefits.
Commercial husbandry methods and excessive processing tends to destroy these valuable resources in honey. Where production is focussed on profit and bees treated as commodities, the honey suffers.
Our small-scale beekeepers live in complete harmony with their environment. It is a simple life in a natural setting. Once hives are baited and set, they are left for wild bees to colonise. Swarms head into the forest, relying on natural, seasonal cycles of flowering woodland plants to produce their honey stash. Nature rules here.
Most honey available on supermarket shelves today is pasteurized. Heat treatment can improve the colour and texture of honey and extend shelf life, but beneficial nutrients are also destroyed in the process.
Musanya does not pasteurise our raw honey, so all the phyto-nutrients, polyphenols and flavonoids are robust and present when the honey arrives on-shelf. This means the anti-oxidant, anti-bacterial and anti-fungal properties in the honey are intact.
Although it is not certified organic due to the costs of surveys, all the processes involved in production are human-powered and natural. As we place hives and harvest honey with our community farmers, Musanya is logging sites and developing an overall schematic of the project. We trust this will eventually lead to organic classification as well as an ability for our farmers to benefit from carbon credits.
For now though, we are proud of the honey produced by small-scale beekeepers in the Miombo Woodlands region where we work. A project that began as a community upliftment initiative is now producing honey that is increasingly being praised as some of the finest on the planet. This is being done in unbelievably remote locations using the simplest of tools, where we are making a difference, naturally.
Spread a little cheer with our easy-peasy Honey Cherry Vanilla Muffins and get the best out of Musanya’s pure African honey and seasonal cherries.
We’re always talking about the quality of the honey we harvest. Of course we are. We love the flavour, we love its purity and best of all, we are proud of how our honey is changing lives in remote parts of Africa.
Superfood honeys fuel your body so it can fight back against chronic disease and other nutrient deficiencies. Our honey comes from small, African producers to encourage sustainable development in rural communities.
Creating small business opportunities for people in remote rural communities is all part of the promise of Musanya’s sustainable beekeeping project.