Bortevaya and apiary, poly- and monofleur, ripe and drunk, cadet and flower - all these definitions describe the diverse qualities of one of the amazing gifts of nature, whose name is honey. Much less often they recall that honey also differs by the insect producer.
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This "forgetfulness" is easily explained: in the list of honey producers you can find only three items. The first place belongs to the honey bee, the second position is occupied by bumblebees, the short list is completed by the Mexican honey wasp, the only one from the aspen tribe that is well adapted to the production of honey.
The most advanced experts in the insect world will add a fourth point, recalling the honey ants. A part of the working individuals of these species stores carbohydrates in themselves, acting as storage rooms for food for the inhabitants of the anthill in the cold season. The contents of barrel ants have nothing to do with honey, except for the sweet taste, of course.
Among the natives of Australia, for example, such carbohydrate ants were included in the diet as an exquisite treat.
Bumblebee honey
The second place is given to bumblebees for the only reason - they all collect nectar and pollen. But the taste of bumblebee honey remains a mystery to most people. Experts reassure: the pleasure of tasting a product stocked with bumblebees in tiny semblance of barrels for eating by maggots is not great. In addition, the volume of honey produced by the bumblebee family is simply insignificant.
The result of bumblebee labor is watery and similar to sugar syrup, but richer in pollen and nectar inclusions. This fact is explained by the size of the proboscis of the insect - it penetrates into the flowers of plants, inaccessible to bees. It was found that the proportion of minerals, protein and sucrose in the composition of such a “syrup” is one and a half to two times higher than that of bees. But the diastases (one of the most valuable enzymes) in the bumblebee collection, obtained on the same site with the bees, will be 4-8 times less.
Wasp honey
This rare product is familiar to those who have happened to be on the American continent: it is known in the US state of Texas, is most common in Brazil and Mexico and since time immemorial has been one of the favorite treats of Aboriginal Indians. Wasps stocking nectar in their paper nests are partly similar to bee habits: they leave a sting in the victim, swarms, use sweet supplies to feed offspring.
The bees do not have the same process in honey production technology: the wasp product is nectar with pollen, which ripens in the wasp honeycombs. However, this is good honey - very fragrant, although crystallizing faster than bee. But it should be remembered that when wasps collect nectar and pollen from poisonous plants, for example, dope, a treat can cause serious poisoning in a person.