Questions // Frequent questions

1. How is honey classified by assortments: acacia/ lime/polyfloral honey? And how can we identify the assortment it belongs to?
All types of honey are obtained by the help of the bees which collect the pollen of the flowers and process inside the hive, and the comb, out of which the beekeepers collect honey. By analyzing the pollen contained by honey in a laboratory, with a microscope (which is different from one flower to another, being similar to human DNA) and the level of pollen from a certain type of flower, but according to difference in color, taste and flavor we can establish the exact floral assortment out of which that type of honey was obtained.

2. How can the beekeeper identify the type of plants from which the bees gathered pollen?
Each beekeeper looks very carefully after his bees and the type of plants which are situated near the hive. When the bees return to their hive during the collecting period, carrying the pollen grains, the beekeeper already knows the area the pollen was collected from; what we should take into consideration is that they usually fly no more than 3km away from the hive.

3. Which is the difference among the three assortments: polyfloral, acacia and lime-tree honey?
Acacia honey is considered to have the highest quality, it has a very light color- almost transparent, it does not crystallize; it is not very sweet and has a discrete flavor of lime flowers. The polyfloral honey is a combination of pollen gathered from wild flowers; it has a very strong flavor and a sweet taste, a bit peppery and has a gold-brown color.

4. Is the honey from stores less natural than the one from the markets?
NO. The honey called “Roua Florilor” which is commercialized in stores is 100% natural. It comes directly from the beekeepers from Transilvania and has not undergone any type of process that might change its qualities. It is only filtered, homogenized and packed. Filtration is made by the help of some special filters brought from Japan and packing is done by an automatic packing line; and the whole process follows the rules imposed by the HACCP system. Each lot of honey received from the beekeepers is analyzed in our own laboratory in order to establish its quality and to identify the antibiotics content or to eliminate the lots which do not correspond. Besides this, “Roua Florilor” honey offers you the certainty that you eat a 100% controlled and packed product which corresponds to all rules of maximum hygiene.

5. What does it mean that the company has implemented the HACCP system of food safety?
This means that there is a well organized technologic process, which takes care of the problems related to points of risk and assures a permanent control of CTC (Technologic Control of Quality) over the entire process as well as a recording of the product’s route. In this way for each product bought from a store, the exact origin may be identified (the lot and honey from it), the packing day and the physical- chemical parameters of a certain lot. Also, the standards of hygiene requested by the new law of European Union are followed along with a strict quality control starting with the moment honey is received by the factory until the final product comes out.

6. Where may residues of antibiotics from honey come from and why are they so dangerous for the human body?
Bees are attacked by some pests (bee louse) which can destroy the entire hive unless the beekeeper does not use some treatments against these bee louses. These treatments were made from substances based on antibiotics which could be found in honey. It was demonstrated that these residues of antibiotics from different products might produce in time a certain body’s resistance to antibiotics, and thus, when we are ill and our doctor prescribes us an antibiotics treatment, the medicines do not have the anticipated effects or they are weak. Because of this the treatment with antibiotic substances regarding the bees has been forbidden. Apidava Company possesses a well equipped laboratory which helps us identify the residues of antibiotics in honey, and the lots which do not correspond are eliminated.