Tierney, John (21 October 2014). "Making Mead in a Space-Age World". The Atlantic . Retrieved 20 June 2017. One 1980 study found that mixed floral honey from several United States regions typically contains the following: [98] Ottermann, Birgit (23 May 2013). "The health benefits of honey". News24 . Retrieved 1 May 2022. Honey has a mild laxative effect which can help combat constipation and bloating.

Honey bees are not the only eusocial insects to produce honey. All non-parasitic bumblebees and stingless bees produce honey. Some wasp species, such as Brachygastra lecheguana and Brachygastra mellifica, found in South and Central America, are known to feed on nectar and produce honey. [22] Other wasps, such as Polistes versicolor, also consume honey. In the middle of their life cycles they alternate between feeding on protein-rich pollen and feeding on honey, which is a far denser source of food energy. [23] Human intervention VOCs are primarily introduced into the honey from the nectar, where they are excreted by the flowers imparting individual scents. [64] The specific types and concentrations of certain VOCs can be used to determine the type of flora used to produce monofloral honeys. [64] [66] The specific geography, soil composition and acidity used to grow the flora also have an effect on honey aroma properties, [65] such as a "fruity" or "grassy" aroma from longan honey, or a "waxy" aroma from sunflower honey. [64] Dominant VOCs in one study were linalool oxide, trans-linalool oxide, 2- phenylacetaldehyde, benzyl ethanol, isophorone, and methyl nonanoate. [64]The Christian New Testament says that John the Baptist lived for a long of time in the wilderness on a diet of locusts and wild honey [144] (see for instance Mark 1:6).

The long shelf life of honey is attributed to an enzyme found in the stomach of bees. The bees mix glucose oxidase with expelled nectar they previously consumed, creating two byproducts– gluconic acid and hydrogen peroxide, which are partially responsible for honey acidity and suppression of bacterial growth. [8] Adulteration

Subramanian, R.; Hebbar, H. Umesh; Rastogi, N. K. (2007). "Processing of Honey: A Review". International Journal of Food Properties. 10: 127–143. doi: 10.1080/10942910600981708. S2CID 98158536. Braggot: The Best of Mead and Beer". American Home Brewers Association. 2017 . Retrieved 19 June 2017. Early Christians used honey as a symbol of spiritual perfection in christening ceremonies. [144] Islam Dehydrating honey i Of the 55 times the word "honey" appears in the Hebrew Bible, 16 are part of the expression "the land of milk and honey", and only twice is "honey" explicitly associated with bees, both being related to wild bees: Samson collecting bees' honey from inside a lion's corpse ( Judges 14:8–9) is the first instance, with Jonathan, King Saul's son, tasting from a honeycomb after the battle of Michmash ( 1 Samuel 14:27) being the second. [149]

Piotr Tomasik (20 October 2003). Chemical and Functional Properties of Food Saccharides. CRC Press. pp.74–. ISBN 978-0-203-49572-8. Honey for human consumption is collected from wild bee colonies, or from the hives of domesticated bees. The honey produced by honey bees is the most familiar to humans, thanks to its worldwide commercial production and availability. [4] The husbandry of bees is known as beekeeping or apiculture, with the cultivation of stingless bees usually referred to as meliponiculture. Honey decoctions are made from honey or honey byproducts which have been dissolved in water, then reduced (usually by means of boiling). Other ingredients may then be added. (For example, abbamele has added citrus.) The resulting product may be similar to molasses.

The UK Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency recommends avoiding giving over-the-counter cough and common cold medication to children under six, and suggests "a homemade remedy containing honey and lemon is likely to be just as useful and safer to take", but warns that honey should not be given to babies because of the risk of infant botulism. [117] The World Health Organization recommends honey as a treatment for coughs and sore throats, including for children, stating that no reason exists to believe it is less effective than a commercial remedy. [118] Other A Short Story About A Wintering Colony With Dysentery | Bee Culture". Bee Culture. 19 April 2015 . Retrieved 9 October 2018.