One of the advantages of being a substitute teacher (apart from
the fact that I literally get paid to read books) is that I often learn something
new.
A few days ago, I monitored a German class. Right next door to
me was a woman who taught Arabic. During a break between classes, I wandered over to talk with her. During our conversation, she mentioned that Yemen (which
is an Arabic-speaking country) produces some of the most expensive honey in the
world.
Although she thought it was THE most expensive honey in the
world, there are places where it is even more expensive.
In Yemen, Sidr honey can sell for up to
$500 (£370) a kilogram in neighboring Gulf states such as Saudi Arabia and the
United Arab Emirates. If you’re good with math, you know that that is
roughly equal to $125 an ounce. By way of comparison, a jar of Simple Truth
honey at the local Fry’s grocery store sells for $5.79 for a 12- ounce jar,
which is equal to 48 cents an ounce.
According to the Qur’an, a lone sidr tree, or jujube,
marks the highest boundary of heaven. On earth, amid the harshness of the
Yemeni desert, the sweetness of sidr honey is cherished as a symbol of
perseverance.
https://www.theguardian.com/world/2021/mar/23/liquid-gold-beekeepers-defying-ye men-war-to-produce-honey
The MOST expensive honey in the
world is Elvish Honey.
Elvish
honey also referred to as the “true nectar of the gods” is the most expensive
honey is the world and costs a whopping 5000 euros (equivalent to $6,800) for a
kilo of this “liquid gold”.
It is one of its kind and is therefore rare and of exceptionally amazing
quality. It is thick and is golden in color.
Elvish honey is extracted from 1800 meters deep cave bee hives. The per ounce
price is a staggering $190,000.
The
cave is situated in Northeastern Turkey in the Saricayir Valley. This honey was
found in 2009 by a local who noticed bees entering a cave. He then took help
from professional mountaineers to go down the cave and extract honey. He was
able to collected 18kgs of this honey. The honey was then sent to a French
laboratory for analysis, where it was found that the honey is 7 years old, is
mineral rich and has incomparable quality.
The
first kg of this honey was sold in the French stock for 45,000 euros. The
following year another Chinese pharmacist purchased it for 28,000 euros per kg.
Now, Gunduz Gunay, the owner and founder of this honey has agreed to a bargain
price and sells for 5000 euros.
The
high price of this honey is owing to the purity and quality of the honey; honey
extracted from such a depth where the air and water are extremely pure, is free
from pollutants. This honey is not easy to extract and requires professional
mountaineers to go down every time. Moreover, the surrounding area of the cave
is rich with herbs and medicinal plants; some of the herbs are rare and endangered
as well. All of these factors have made the honey so pricey. You can get this
honey in 170 grams and 250 grams bottle. There are 26 grams per ounce.
There is one honey that is more
expensive than Yemen honey, but cheaper that the stuff in Greece.
Manuka honey is a native to New
Zealand and is obtained from bees inhabited in the Northern part of the
country. This honey is valued because it is rare, has some amazing health
benefits and has the highest MGO/UMF rating (grading used for gauging quality of
honey) as compared to any other honey. You can get a 230 grams jar of this honey
for $1, 780, which is very expensive and beyond the reach of many. That’s equal
to $216.70 per ounce.
Manuka
honey is particularly known for its unique texture and consistency. It is very
viscous and has a buttery consistency and at the same time is very sweet and
earthy. The honey has antiseptic, anti-viral and anti-bacterial properties and
is found to fight even those bacteria that were resistant to many different
chemicals. Manuka honey is an effective and tested cure for ulcers and burns.
Manuka
honey is extracted from the Manuka bush. The Manuka bush is extremely rare and
is largely found in New Zealand. Manuka bushes can also be found in Australia,
but the main production of Manuka honey is from New Zealand. Harvesting Manuka
honey is a difficult task and may even require the use of helicopters.
The
flowers on the Manuka bush only bloom for 12 days, so only an area rich with
Manuka bushes can produce enough honey. The hives of these bees are located in
remote areas ranging from green hills of the northland to the volcanic
plateaus.
This
bush is also extremely sensitive to weather conditions and therefore requires
great care and planning for harvesting the honey. The hefty price tag of this
honey is because of its unique properties and difficult extraction.
Miel
Lo Mejor del Bierz:
This is
the most expensive honey in all of Europe and has a bit lower rank in the
world’s most expensive honey. It is native to Spain and can be purchased for
$150 for a kilogram. Camponaraya village situated in El Bierzo district of Leon
province is the production house of this amazing and rare honey. Per ounce, it
costs slightly under $20.
This
honey is again very rare, and the supply is way less than the increasing
demand. As more and more people are becoming aware of using good quality honey,
the demand of this honey is increasing; the rarity of this honey is what makes
it unique. The honey is certified halal and is packed with high nutritional
factor making it extremely healthy.
https://beejewelrystore.com/4-most-expensive-honeys-in-the-world/
The difficulty with obtaining Yemeni honey is that the country is very unstable politically.
Yemen is a member of the Arab League, the United
Nations, the Non-Aligned Movement and the Organization of Islamic Cooperation. It belongs to the least developed country group, referring to its numerous
"severe structural impediments to sustainable development" In
2019, the United Nations reported that Yemen is the country with the most
people in need of humanitarian aid, about 24 million people, or 85% of its
population. As of 2020, the country is placed the highest in the Fragile State Index, the second worst in Global Hunger Index, surpassed only by the Central African Republic, and has the lowest Human Development Index out of all non-African countries.
Since 2011, Yemen has been in a state
of political crisis starting with street protests against poverty, unemployment, corruption, and
president Saleh's plan to amend Yemen's constitution and eliminate the presidential term
limit. President Saleh stepped down and the powers of the presidency were
transferred to Abdrabbuh Mansur Hadi. Since then, the country has been in a civil war (alongside the Saudi Arabian-led military intervention aimed at restoring Hadi's government)
with several proto-state entities claiming to govern Yemen: the Cabinet of Yemen, Supreme Political Council, and the Southern Transitional Council. At least 56,000 civilians and combatants
have been killed in armed violence in Yemen since January 2016. The war
has resulted in a famine affecting 17 million people. The
lack of safe drinking water, caused by depleted
aquifers and the
destruction of the country's water infrastructure, has also caused the largest,
fastest-spreading cholera outbreak in modern history, with the number of
suspected cases exceeding 994,751. Over 2,226 people have died since the
outbreak began to spread rapidly at the end of April 2017. The ongoing
humanitarian crisis and conflict has received widespread
criticism for having a
dramatic worsening effect on Yemen's humanitarian situation, that some say has
reached the level of a "humanitarian disaster" and some have
even labelled it as a genocide It has worsened the country's
already-poor human rights situation.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yemen
Yeman
and Saudi Arabia have been firing missiles at each other for more than 10
years, but it looks like the war may finally be coming to an end.
A day
after a wave of Huthi drone and
missile attacks on Saudi targets,
including an oil plant that turned into an inferno near the Formula One race in
Jeddah, political leader Mahdi al-Mashat put rebel operations on hold.
"And
we are ready to turn this declaration into a final and permanent commitment in
the event that Saudi Arabia commits to ending the siege and stopping its raids
on Yemen once and for all," he said.
There was
no immediate response from Saudi Arabia, which retaliated to Friday's attacks
by launching air strikes against Sanaa and Hodeida and destroying four
explosives-laden boats.
Yemen,
the Arab world's poorest country even before the war, has been teetering on the
brink of catastrophe for years as the complex conflict rages on multiple
fronts.
Hundreds
of thousands of people have been killed, directly or indirectly, and millions
have been displaced in what the UN calls the world's worst humanitarian crisis.
'Peace
will come'
Mashat
said the Huthis are ready to "release all coalition prisoners, including
(president Abdrabbuh Mansur) Hadi's brother, militia prisoners and other
nationalities in exchange for the full release of all our prisoners".
"The
Saudi regime must prove its seriousness... by responding to a ceasefire,
lifting the siege and expelling foreign forces from our country.
"And
then peace will come and then it will be time to talk about political solutions
in a calm atmosphere away from any military or humanitarian pressure."
The
Iran-backed rebels' surprise move came exactly seven years after the Saudi-led
coalition's intervention to support Yemen's government, after the Huthis seized
Sanaa in 2014.
Right now, the world’s attention is focused on Ukraine. Once
that crisis finally gets resolved, it would be wise for more advanced countries
to offer at least some assistance in order to help Yemen be a better place to
live for the beekeepers, as well as the ordinary citizens of Yemen.
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