Honey is not nectar, but it is made from nectar through a biological process involving honey bees. The confusion stems from the fact that nectar is the raw material bees collect, while honey is the final, chemically and physically altered product. The difference is one of composition and stability, achieved through a multi-step refinement process.
What is Nectar?
Nectar is a sugary fluid secreted by plants to attract pollinators, such as insects and birds. It is produced by specialized glands called nectaries, typically located within flowers. Its purpose is to facilitate plant reproduction by encouraging the movement of pollen.
Nectar’s primary components are water and simple sugars, including sucrose, glucose, and fructose. It has a very high water content, often ranging between 70% and 90% when secreted. This high moisture level makes the substance thin and highly susceptible to microbial spoilage. Nectar also contains trace amounts of minerals, volatile oils, and amino acids.
The Biological Conversion Process
The transformation begins when a foraging worker bee collects the fluid and stores it in the honey stomach. While held there, the nectar is immediately mixed with enzymes secreted from the bee’s hypopharyngeal glands, marking the start of the chemical conversion.
Chemical Transformation
The primary enzyme added is invertase, which hydrolyzes the complex sugar sucrose found in nectar. This action breaks down sucrose into its simpler monosaccharide components: glucose and fructose. This shifts the sugar profile from primarily sucrose to predominantly glucose and fructose, the main sugars found in finished honey.
Another enzyme, glucose oxidase, is also introduced. It converts some glucose into gluconic acid and small amounts of hydrogen peroxide, contributing to the mild acidity of the final product.
Once the forager returns, the partially processed nectar is passed to house bees through trophallaxis, a mouth-to-mouth transfer. The house bees continue regurgitation and re-ingestion, which concentrates the liquid and ensures thorough enzyme mixing. The mixture is then deposited into the hexagonal cells of the honeycomb.
Dehydration
Dehydration is the final stage, where the bees actively reduce the high water content. Worker bees rapidly fan their wings over the open cells, creating air currents that accelerate moisture evaporation. This process continues until the water content is reduced from the original 80% or more down to approximately 17% to 20%. The low moisture level prevents the growth of yeast and bacteria, ensuring long-term preservation.
Characteristics of Finished Honey
Finished honey is a distinct product resulting from the conversion process. It is a supersaturated sugar solution with a final water content typically below 18.6%, the standard for high-quality honey. This low water content creates high osmotic pressure, drawing water out of microbial cells, which makes honey highly resistant to spoilage.
The sugar profile is dominated by fructose and glucose, making up about 85% of its composition, a direct result of the invertase action. Fructose is usually the more abundant sugar, making honey sweeter than table sugar. Furthermore, the action of glucose oxidase gives honey a slightly acidic pH, often averaging around 3.9. This acidity, combined with the low moisture, makes the final product stable for extended periods.