Honey Stomach or Deception Most Foul

Fair reader, I must confess a treachery. I must confess my intent to commit a heinous act.

I will steal the honey. I will rob the queen blind like an unfaithful lady in waiting.

But not this year. This year I pamper her and hope they don't all die.

Mea Culpa.

I feel better! Now, let’s talk about how this honey is made, since it has been the topic of conversation among many of you and I want to set the record straight.

Honey isn’t bee barf, because that would be disgusting. Honey bees are not disgusting. They are fascinating, often savage, and fastidious, but not disgusting.

Females have a normal stomach, with which they digest honey and pollen. They also have a “honey stomach” that is used to store the nectar they gather from flowers as they gather and distribute pollen. The nectar is then removed from the bee that foraged it by another bee from inside the hive. She will work this over for a while in her sweet little cheeks, imbibing it with enzymes and proteins. This nectar-bee goodness mixture has too much water at this stage to successfully retard bacteria growth, so after the ladies deposit it into the iconic hexagonical cells, they join together and fan their wings until the moisture content is reduced to around to between 12% -14%. This gives honey a shelf life of a few thousand years.  

If you still think that it's gross, then you don't like awesome things. I can't help you be more awesome.