# What is honey? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [July 28, 2006, 9:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-honey/366463 "2006-07-28T21:09:29Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 9\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![yabob](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/yabob/32/2821_2.png) [@yabob](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/yabob)\ **Post date:** [July 29, 2006, 12:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-honey/366463/21 "2006-07-29T00:11:35Z")
> [@Charlie Tan](#): > > I was going to start a thread related to this, but I’ll just tag along. > > So, since honey is basically sugar in another form, why do bees circle around sugary drinks and want to get some? Possibly to use the drink as a raw material the same way they use flower nectar. We’ve already discussed “Do honeybees make honey from soft drinks?”: > **[Do honeybees make honey from soft drinks](https://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=130149)** > > Anyone who has trried to drink a can of soda outside or has outdoor garbage cans knows that honeybees seem to sometimes prefer Sprite and Dr. Pepper to tulips and daisies. But what do bees do with soda? Do they just fly off once they realise it is... We didn’t really settle it there, except for a remembered article from a kid’s magazine, but I would still not be surprised if the bees cart any sugary liquid they find back to the hive and go through the honey making process with it. ---
**Author:** ![Broomstick](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/broomstick/32/246_2.png) [@Broomstick](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Broomstick)\ **Post date:** [July 29, 2006, 12:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-honey/366463/22 "2006-07-29T00:52:05Z")
> [@BarnOwl](#): > > FWIT, according to [baby.com](http://baby.com), honey can kill your infant. > > I don’t know how true it is, but my grandchildren are 9 months old, and my daughter won’t feed them honey or corn syrup because… > > “Although honey seems like a wholesome, natural food to feed your infant, don’t do it until after he’s at least 12 months. It isn’t safe to feed your baby honey or corn syrup – or even cooked foods sweetened with either one – until after his first birthday. Both products can harbor spores of a toxic bacteria called clostridium botulinum. These spores are hardy – cooking and pasteurization don’t always kill them. If adults or children over 1 year old eat these spores, it’s harmless, because their bodies can digest them. But in babies, whose digestive and immune systems aren’t fully developed, these bacteria can grow in the intestines and cause infant botulism, a food-borne illness that is rare but can be fatal, says the American Academy of Pediatrics. The symptoms of infant botulism include constipation followed by weakness, loss of appetite, irritability, and a weak cry. If you notice these symptoms in your baby, call your child’s doctor right away.” It’s true. Very, very true. It the same bacterium that, in much larger amounts, gives larger human botulism and also gives us botox - another thing you probably should not give your infant, no matter how wrinkled he or she may be. ---
**Author:** ![Biffy\_the\_Elephant\_Shrew](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/e47c2d/32.png) [@Biffy\_the\_Elephant\_Shrew](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Biffy_the_Elephant_Shrew)\ **Post date:** [July 29, 2006, 1:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-honey/366463/23 "2006-07-29T01:07:20Z")
> [@Exapno Mapcase](#): > > This differs from glucose, which is a chemical mixture of the two simpler sugars, a bisaccharide. You mean sucrose, not glucose. Sucrose (table sugar) is the disaccharide made up of the two simple sugars glucose and fructose. The simple sugars are isomers of each other (that is, the molecules have the same atoms, differently arranged). Our bodies run on glucose, so sucrose is metabolized by being split into glucose, which can be used as is, and fructose, which is then isomerized into more glucose. ---
**Author:** ![Exapno\_Mapcase](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/exapno_mapcase/32/1051_2.png) [@Exapno\_Mapcase](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Exapno_Mapcase)\ **Post date:** [July 29, 2006, 3:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-honey/366463/24 "2006-07-29T03:05:29Z")
[QUOTE=Biffy the Elephant Shrew] You mean sucrose, not glucose./QUOTE] Yes, I do. And of course I know the difference, made sure to check it ahead of time, and still my fingers came up with the wrong word. I can’t explain it, but thanks for catching the goof. ---
**Author:** ![bouv](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/bc8723/32.png) [@bouv](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bouv)\ **Post date:** [July 29, 2006, 3:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-honey/366463/25 "2006-07-29T03:07:27Z")
> [@Broomstick](#): > > It the same bacterium that, in much larger amounts, gives larger human botulism and also gives us botox - another thing you probably should not give your infant, no matter how wrinkled he or she may be. Well…kinda. It’s not so much large amounts of botulism spores that affect adult humans as it is the botulism toxin. Out stomachs can kill te spores jsut fine, an infants cannot. But if something like a can of meat that happened to have botulism spores in it when it got canned, they will reproduce and make botulism toxin. The toxin is what causes the damage. ---
**Author:** ![Crafter\_Man](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/crafter_man/32/458_2.png) [@Crafter\_Man](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Crafter_Man)\ **Post date:** [July 29, 2006, 3:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-honey/366463/26 "2006-07-29T03:18:31Z")
Beekeeper here. Every year we harvest the honey. The bees make the honey. That’s all I know. ---
**Author:** ![Carlyjay](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/e0b2c6/32.png) [@Carlyjay](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Carlyjay)\ **Post date:** [July 29, 2006, 3:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-honey/366463/27 "2006-07-29T03:25:37Z")
> [@Diogenes the Cynic](#): > > Honey is basically bee puke. They eat the nectar from fowers and then cack up a sugar saturated solution to feed larvae. Never have I heard more poetic words… ---
**Author:** ![Triskadecamus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/b19c9b/32.png) [@Triskadecamus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Triskadecamus)\ **Post date:** [July 29, 2006, 3:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-honey/366463/28 "2006-07-29T03:28:43Z")
> [@Crafter\_Man](#): > > Every year we harvest the honey. The bees make the honey. > > That’s all I know. Always best to leave the hard work to the experts. Tris ---
**Author:** ![Tikkiw](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/e68b1a/32.png) [@Tikkiw](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tikkiw)\ **Post date:** [July 29, 2006, 4:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-honey/366463/29 "2006-07-29T04:50:30Z")
Wikipedia [suggests](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Honey#Medical_uses_for_honey) that honey also has antibacterial properties because it contains a very small percentage of hydrogen peroxide and is relatively acidic, in addition to the low water content causing plasmolysis in bacteria. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-honey/366463.md?page=1)