Honey

Honey is a thick, sweet, and viscous substance manufactured by several species of bees, most notably the honey bees. It is produced to nourish the colony and is stored within the hive, usually inside the hexagonal wax cells of the honeycomb. Bees gather sugary plant secretions such as floral nectar or the honeydew produced by aphids and refine these raw materials through regurgitation, enzymatic modification, and evaporation, transforming dilute liquids into a concentrated, stable food source. Other bee species, including stingless bees and bumblebees, also produce honey, storing it in structures suited to their own biology, such as wax-and-resin pots. Honey for human use may be harvested from wild nests or from hives managed by beekeepers, and its long history of consumption stretches back into early prehistory.

Composition and Properties

Honey derives its sweetness primarily from high concentrations of fructose and glucose, making it comparable in relative sweetness to table sugar. A typical tablespoon of honey provides a significant amount of food energy and contributes distinctive flavour and aroma to foods. Owing to its high sugar content and very low water activity, most microorganisms cannot grow in honey, making it remarkably resistant to spoilage. Archaeological finds have shown that sealed honey can remain edible for thousands of years.
The chemical properties of honey give it wide utility in cooking and baking, where its viscosity, flavour, and ability to retain moisture are prized. Commercial production, centred on the honey bee, makes this type of honey the most familiar form within global markets.

Historical Use and Cultural Context

Honey has been collected by humans since prehistoric times. Cave paintings in Spain show honey harvesting at least eight millennia ago, illustrating its longstanding value as a natural sweetener and energy-rich food. In the Old World the honey bee was an important resource, while in the Americas Pre-Columbian cultures, including the Maya, developed sophisticated meliponiculture, the keeping of stingless bees, and used their honey for ritual, medicinal, and dietary purposes.

Honey Production by Bees

Honey is essential for sustaining bee colonies. It fuels the high-energy flight muscles of foraging bees and provides nourishment for larvae. Production begins when a forager bee collects nectar—typically containing 70 to 80 per cent water—or honeydew, which can be even more dilute. These fluids are drawn up through the proboscis into the honey stomach, a specialised organ distinct from the bee’s digestive stomach. The honey stomach of the western honey bee can hold about 40 mg of liquid, often requiring visits to hundreds or thousands of flowers to fill.
As the nectar is collected, enzymes from the bees’ salivary glands initiate the breakdown of complex sugars such as sucrose into simpler sugars like glucose and fructose. This partial digestion increases acidity and sets the stage for further refinement.
Back inside the hive the forager transfers the processed nectar to hive bees, who repeatedly regurgitate and manipulate the liquid. By forming bubbles between their mandibles and exposing the nectar to the warm air of the hive, they accelerate evaporation. Groups of hive bees may work in relays, reducing the liquid’s water content through sustained bubbling and enzymatic activity. This process can take twenty minutes or more for each portion of nectar.
The partially refined honey is deposited into uncapped cells. Its water content at this stage may still reach 70 per cent, making it vulnerable to fermentation by ambient yeast spores. Bees prevent this through thermal regulation. They generate heat within the hive or remove it through evaporative cooling, maintaining a stable environment that allows controlled drying of the stored nectar. Ventilation created by coordinated wing beating removes heat and moisture, gradually reducing the water content to approximately 15.5 to 18 per cent.
Once sufficiently concentrated, the honey forms a supersaturated sugar solution—far denser than water alone could dissolve at ambient temperatures—and becomes inhospitable to microbial growth. Bees then cap the cells with wax, sealing the honey against contamination and excessive evaporation. Capped honey becomes a long-term energy reserve that can endure indefinitely if kept dry.
During cold seasons or periods of scarce forage bees rely on this stored honey, which is far more energy-rich than the nectar from which it was produced.

Honey Production by Other Insects

Although honey bees are the best-known producers, other social insects also make honey. Non-parasitic bumblebees and stingless bees produce honey in smaller quantities suited to the needs of their colonies. Certain wasps, particularly species in South and Central America, have been observed collecting nectar and producing honey-like substances, and some species alternate between honey consumption and pollen feeding depending on their life stage.

Human Domestication and Beekeeping

Humans have domesticated several species of honey bees, capitalising on their natural tendency to swarm when colonies outgrow their living spaces. During swarming, the old queen departs with a large portion of the workers to establish a new nest. Beekeepers manage this process through hive design and colony division, ensuring sustainable honey production while maintaining healthy bee populations.
Beekeeping—also known as apiculture—includes the construction and maintenance of hives, the management of bee health, and the harvesting of honey and beeswax. The keeping of stingless bees, particularly in tropical regions, is known as meliponiculture. These practices enable predictable honey yields and support the broader agricultural value of pollinating insects.