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Honey is made from nectar, not of nectar. It's pretty likely that what these bees are producing is not that unlike regular honey. It just happens to be artifi
by burgerbrain 16y ago
Honey is made from nectar, not of nectar. It's pretty likely that what these bees are producing is not that unlike regular honey. It just happens to be artificially coloured and likely has a different makeup of sugars.
What I don't get is why these people are so appalled that bees would do this. Bees don't know shit about nutrition, they just dig sweet stuff and stuff with bright colours. "Mother nature" doesn't "know best", it just does what it has evolved to do. These bees evolved to use what limited computation power they have to find bright stuff that's sweet. Most of the time this means flowers, but apparently not always.
If anything, I'd be excited. This is interesting and new stuff, not horrifying!
- Dylanlacey 16y agoWell yeah, it's made from nectar, but there is usually a small amount of pollen, some amino acids, plant sterols and fats and so on. That's like saying that banana-flavouring is LIKE bananas because it contains the same ester. But you're right about the OTT reaction... The panicked, hand-wringing, "How COULD they?!" exclamations just show that someone doesn't really have a good grasp of the realities of being a non-human sapient.
- burgerbrain 16y agoWell, like normal honey, this substance is still being regurgitated by the bees. I'm not terribly familiar with the mechanisms involved but I was under the impression the conversion from nectar to honey was largely done by the bees digesting the nectar before depositing it.