My previous article titled “The “first” Country “ about the exclusiveness of New Zealand was rather long, but it wasn’t complete at all. In this article I would like to tell you about another “wonder” of New Zealand – its unique Manuka Honey, which is produced only in New Zealand (and in very small quantities in Australia).

The History of Honey

But lets begin from the history of honey in general. It goes way back to very ancient times. First rock carvings with bees appeared more than fifteen thousand years ago, and bees were domesticated more than three thousand years ago. Honey is a heavenly beverage and delicacy. Ancient Greeks called it “ambrosia”, which means Food (or drink) of Gods, while bees themselves were considered sacred in the ancient world. Ancient myths narrate about a divine origin of bees (bees are tears of Egyptian god Ra) and about the tender care bees received (bee wax cells were kept in temples, and even monuments to the honey were built in Japan and Poland). Honey was used in mummification thanks to its antibacterial, antifungal, and antiviral qualities that were already known way back in ancient times. In Egyptian and Indian Myths, bees and honey play a very important role – for example bees in Egypt are sacred insects.

Honey Nowadays

Nowadays honey is also very important – in Jewish celebration of New Year honey symbolizes health and wellbeing. In ancient times honey was very rare and expensive and could be used only by rich people and spiritual leaders: sacred statues were made from the wax cells, and also holy writings were written on them. Honey is used in cosmetics and medicine. It is useful for healing wounds, burns, skin and sexually transmitted diseases, respiratory diseases and digestive system, as an antibacterial substance. Lets not forged that Honey is also very tasty (at least to most of the people). Today apiaries are very common in places with abundant vegetation; honey and products from it are very popular across our planet.

In my next articles I will write about the honey producing process and, of course I will eventually get to tell about the New Zealand’s famous Manuka Honey. My next article is titled The Process of Making Honey. If you are looking to buy authentic Manuka honey you can visit Arataki Manuka Honey or Airborne Manuka Blend Honey
See you soon!

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2. The Might of Volcano in Numbers