Natural honey, also called raw and unprocessed honey, is edible straight from a beehive. In fact, even the beeswax honeycomb is edible.
Honey is used as a sweetener, as a spread and in baking. Honey has also been used as a medicine for generations. The chemical composition of honey is influenced by the plants providing nectar to the bees, the season, weather conditions and production methods.
Carbohydrates
Honey is a simple carbohydrate made of five simple sugars. One tbsp, or 21g, of honey contains about 17g of sugars, primarily fructose and glucose, with smaller amounts of galactos, maltose and sucrose.
Fructose and glucose are known as natural or simple sugars because they are easily absorbed into the bloodstream. Fructose is about the same sweetness as cane sugar, while glucose is about half as sweet.
When honey crystallizes into a semi-solid state, it's the glucose at work. Glucose will sometimes separate from the other honey components.
Vitamins and Minerals
Minerals in honey are derived from the bees' environment. Honey can have low amounts of iron, copper, calcium, potassium, sodium, phosphorus and magnesium. In general, the darker the honey, the more minerals it contains. Honey contains negligible amounts of vitamins A, B and C.
Harmful Ingredients
Honey rarely contains botulinum endospores. Although harmless to most children and adults, honey carrying the botulinum bacteria can be toxic to an infant's less developed intestinal tract. Children under age one should not be given honey.
Aside from the occasional presence of botulinum, honey is free of bacteria. In fact, its low pH value and gluconic acid give honey antibacterial properties.
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