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In one detailed study of Trigona hypogea in Brazil, the vulture bees mixed sugary plant products with a proteinaceous paste from regurgitated meat, and let it mature to form a sweet substance that was used as food; however, the two resources were initially kept in separate “pots” in the colony, neither being true honey (i.e., not derived from nectar), but they were then mixed together.

So it’s not incorporated in the honey. They have a separate protein stache.

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SpaceNoodle@lemmy.world ⁨22⁩ ⁨hours⁩ ago
A protein stache would be part of a meat beard.

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- Akasazh@lemmy.world ⁨21⁩ ⁨hours⁩ ago
  I’ll keep the typo up because of this <3
  
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- ToffeeIsForClosers@piefed.ca ⁨14⁩ ⁨hours⁩ ago
  And both of these are great metal band names as well.
  
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dejected_warp_core@lemmy.world ⁨22⁩ ⁨hours⁩ ago
Fascinating. It’s worth mentioning that (normal) honey can be used to preserve meat, thanks to its antimicrobial and hydrophilic properties. I guess that’s what’s going on here too: they use a kind of nectar honey to keep the meat component from going off. That said, this kind of food preservation isn’t immune to botulism so do be careful if you try this.

Now I’m wondering when/how this behavior evolved. Did these guys come first, and honeybees figured out how to eat pollen as a protein source as an evolutionary step, the other way around, or separately at the same time from some parent species?

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