is the sugary nectar of flowers gathered, modified, and stored in a honeycomb by honey bees (Apis melifica and A. dorsata). From the plant's point of view the purpose of nectar is to attract insects which pick up pollen and transfer it from flower to flower. As the bee swallows the nectar, its saliva hydrolyses (splits) the sucrose (ordinary sugar) in the nectar into the two simple sugars, dextrose (glucose) and fructose. The bee takes a little nectar for its own nourishment but gives up most of it when it returns to the hive, regurgitating it into one of the hexagonal wax cells of the honeycomb which has been built by the bees with other substances gathered from the plants. Each cell is an incubator for a young bee, which feeds on the honey as it grows.
Nectar turns into honey by evaporation. The finished product consists of 35–40% fructose, 30–5% dextrose, lesser amounts of other sugars and gums, 17–20% water, and traces of pollen, wax, acids, proteins, enzymes, vitamins, minerals, and pigments. Most of these substances come from the original nectar, and the composition of the honey depends on the type of flowers visited by the bees in the area. Bees visit flowers several hundred yards from the hive. As each bee returns it performs a wriggling ‘dance’ at the entrance to the hive. The angle at which it moves shows the direction of flight to the flower, in relation to the current position of the sun; the enthusiasm with which the bee wriggles shows how good a source of nectar the plant is.
The flavour and colour of honey are highly variable. Much of the honey on sale in most countries is from clover and similar field crops. Its flavour is mild and its taste sweet. Although honey can be nearly one and a quarter times as sweet as the same quantity of sucrose, owing to its high fructose content, it tastes less sweet to the palate because of the other flavouring substances it contains. This applies particularly to honeys made from scented flowers which include heather, citrus blossom, raspberry, gooseberry, and other fruits, wild flowering herbs such as sage, thyme, and fireweed, scented trees such as acacia, lime (basswood in the USA), eucalyptus, and numerous other plants. Each has a distinctive flavour thanks to aromatic substances from the flowers. Colour is due to plant pigments, and ranges from white through red and green to black. Texture also varies with the relative amounts of dextrose and fructose. Dextrose crystallizes more rapidly than fructose, making for a more granular honey, such as that from clover, alfalfa, and buckwheat.
Honey may be eaten straight from the comb. The wax is not nutritious. It imparts a pleasant texture but little flavour. Usually the honey is extracted by crushing the comb and letting the honey drain out, often helped by extra pressure from a centrifuge. It may also be strained to remove particles of wax. The resulting honey is usually a moderately viscous, cloudy liquid. Some honey, such as that made from heather (Calluna vulgaris), has so much gum in it that it is almost a jelly and will not pour. When stored, honey gradually crystallizes and solidifies. It may be liquefied by gentle heating, which also makes cloudy honey clear. Heat ‘inverts’ the small amount of remaining sucrose, splitting it into dextrose and fructose.
Honey has always been a prized food in all parts of the world, not only for humans but for many animals. Bears and badgers, which are thick skinned and not troubled by stings, raid wild bees' nests in hollow trees. These animals can be a problem for commercial beekeepers, and in some places hives have had to be hung in the tops of trees to keep them out of reach of bears. A neolithic rock painting in the Araña cave at Bicorp near Valencia in Spain shows a man collecting wild honey. The oldest written reference to the use of honey is thought to be Egyptian, of about 5500 bc. At that time Lower Egypt was called Bee Land while Upper Egypt was Reed Land. By the 5th dynasty (c.2600 bc) apiculture was well established and is shown in several reliefs in the temple of the Sun at Abusir. Honey was a valuable commodity used widely in trade—in the accounts of Seti I (1314–1292 bc) 110 pots of honey were equivalent in value to an ass or an ox. In 1450 bc Thutmoses III is recorded as receiving tribute from Syria of 539 lb (244 kg) of honey.
The use of honey was taken to India by its Aryan invaders and became associated with religious rites. The ancient Indian Laws of Manu, dating from 1000 bc, set the ‘tax rate’ at one-sixth of the beekeeper's production.
Honey is also mentioned on ancient Sumerian clay tablets, possibly even older than the Egyptian reference. Later Babylonian tablets give recipes for ‘electuaries’—medicines based on honey. An electuary mentioned in the 1st century ad by the Roman writer Pliny the Elder included powdered bees. It was said to be a cure for dropsy and bladder stones.
The earliest hives were hollowed out of tree trunks, and this practice still survives in some societies. If a colony of bees can be found while it is swarming—that is, gathering in a dense clump as a preparation for establishing a new nest—the whole swarm may be picked up and transferred to an artificial hive, where the bees will settle. The original method of gathering honey, whether from the wild or from a hive, is still employed. Smoke is used to drive out the bees so that the honey can be taken. They return to the depleted hive and stoically set about making more honey.
Extravagant claims are made to this day for the healthful properties of honey, and recently also for royal jelly, a refined food made by worker bees in small amounts to feed the queen bee and which, it is said, preserves the youth of those who eat it. Before dismissing such beliefs as superstition it should be appreciated that honey is a highly complex substance, and contains compounds about which there is still much to be found out.
Fermented drinks have traditionally been made from honey, such as the old English mead, which is still available as a curiosity. Mead was also an important drink in medieval Russia. The word derives from the Sanskrit word for honey, madhu. A similar drink popular in Ethiopia is called t'ej.
The flavour of honey is volatile and easily destroyed by heating. There is little point in using an expensive fragrant honey in cooking. Honey used in place of sugar in a recipe darkens the food because the single sugars in it caramelize readily. These sugars are also strongly hygroscopic (moisture absorbing), and make the finished product keep well.
Alan Davidson was a distinguished author and publisher, and one of the world's best-known writers on fish and fish cookery. In 1975 he retired early from the diplomatic service—after serving in, among other places, Washington, Egypt, Tunisia, and Laos, where he was British Ambassador—to pursue a fruitful second career as a food historian and food writer extraordinaire. Among his popular books are Seafood of South-East Asia, North Atlantic Seafood, and Mediterranean Seafood. In 2003, shortly before his death, he was awarded the Erasmus Prize for his contribution to European culture.
Crane, Eva (1975), Honey: A Comprehensive Survey, London: Heinemann.
Ellis, Hattie (2004), Sweetness and Light: The Mysterious History of the Honey Bee, London: Hodder & Stoughton.
Wilson, Alan (1993), The Story of the Potato through Illustrated Varieties, London: Alan Wilson.
