Vegans don’t eat honey, but some fear they might be missing out on a magical elixir that can prevent, treat and cure all manner of ailments. So how much is true and how much is hype?
Producing honey is hard work; a bee makes just a twelfth of a teaspoon in her lifetime. Female worker bees collect nectar from flowers, transfer it to hive bees who ingest and regurgitate it repeatedly, adding enzymes to break down the sugar it contains. So honey is really bee vomit! Once it’s made, honey is left to dry in the honeycomb and sealed in with beeswax as a food supply for the winter. When honey is taken by people, bees are fed syrup made with sugar and water – hardly a fair swap!