Wait, is it really just nectar with less water content then? Could make honey ourselves without all the bees by just collecting a bunch of nectar and evaporating off some of the water?
Honey
Submitted 4 weeks ago by Lisk91@sh.itjust.works to science_memes@mander.xyz
https://sh.itjust.works/pictrs/image/45978a00-d4d7-42ff-918f-e064ea983cdf.jpeg
Comments
CarbonIceDragon@pawb.social 4 weeks ago
greedytacothief@lemmy.world 4 weeks ago
I think having thousands of insects collect that nectar is more efficient than trying to do it by hand. But I’d be curious to taste if the bees impart any additional flavor. I know honey made by giving bees primarily sugar water doesn’t taste like much, but there could be other stuff going on with the nectar inside the bee.
ApathyTree@lemmy.dbzer0.com 4 weeks ago
Have you ever tasted flower nectar?
I grow gladiolus sometimes, and they produce a lot of nectar, but there aren’t any pollinators for those flowers around me, so I remove the nectar myself with a syringe. There isn’t a lot in each flower, but it’s nice in a cup of tea.
It doesn’t really taste like honey, even dilute honey. It doesn’t taste like just sugar water, either, though. I’m sure each flowering plant produces a subtly different flavor, like fruit.
And indeed, honey apparently tastes different depending what the bees are feeding on. But I’d say it’s probably a mix of something bee-specific and the nectar itself.
venonat@sh.itjust.works 4 weeks ago
A big part of it is things that happen to the nectar while inside of the bees. That being said, synthetic honey does exist. They use specific types of bacteria to simulate what the bees introduce to it.
teft@lemmy.world 4 weeks ago
collecting a bunch of nectar and evaporating off some of the water
That’s basically the process to make real maple syrup. They just boil sap instead of letting it evaporate to get syrup. I bet if we could collect nectar and figure out the bee’s gut bacteria we could make honey.
FuglyDuck@lemmy.world 4 weeks ago
the flowers the nectar is collected from also influence the flavor of the honey, so you’ll have slight regional distinctions there.
cyborganism@lemmy.ca 4 weeks ago
Wait till you hear that milk is…
ekZepp@lemmy.world 4 weeks ago
Why people keep forgetting chicken eggs?
PerogiBoi@lemmy.ca 4 weeks ago
COW PUKE?!?!?
southsamurai@sh.itjust.works 4 weeks ago
Titty juice!
paddirn@lemmy.world 4 weeks ago
Mmmm, bee puke
Skasi@lemmy.world 4 weeks ago
Don’t forget the fact that this is all started by horny plants who only dress up nicely and offer sweets to allure innocent little bees because dirty as they are plants want bees to touch their genitalia to smear pollen all over their bodies as the little ones fly from plant to plant, exchanging pollen by means of a never ending bukkake.
cRazi_man@lemm.ee 4 weeks ago
Never Ending Bukkake is going to be my band name.
ekZepp@lemmy.world 4 weeks ago
Pollen = Semen. Got it.
MeatPilot@lemmy.world 4 weeks ago
If, Pollen = Semen
Than passing pollen 👄 to 👄 = snowballing