It may be possible - without the aid of genetic modification - for humans to create a form of honey by collecting pollen (carrier bags attached to the legs?), digesting the stuff at home, and finally secreting it from a special gland. This could be then be bottled and sold to other humans who don't have the time to take part in this activity.
Suitable for vegans.-- slancaster, May 10 2001 Bees make honey from a flower's nectar (a sugar-water secretion), not pollen. Bees make other bees from pollen.
Bees do not secrete honey from a special gland, but regurgitate it after processing it in a stomach. They actually pass it through a series of bees before it goes into the cells to be evaporated into honey.
The production of just one pound (454 g) of honey requires the collection of nectar from about two million flowers. How many flowers do you want to visit in order to produce a pound (typ. about 11 fl. oz./325 ml) of honey? That's why we invented bees.
Is honeybee honey not suitable for vegans?-- beauxeault, May 10 2001 huh?!? *scratches head* Bees make other /bees/ from pollen??? I thought, uh... wait a second. The queen bee is not a flower. Flowers make other flowers given pollen certainly, but I've not heard of pollen-based reproduction outside of the plant kingdom. Did I miss something between grade school science and The Talk?-- absterge, May 10 2001 What I meant was that bees use the pollen as food for immature bees.-- beauxeault, May 10 2001 Where is one going to get this special gland without genetic modification, anyway?
'Wouldn't it be neat if'.-- StarChaser, May 10 2001 beauxeault: I agree. Making sticky sweet substances from plant juices is baked as maple syrup, molasses, and of course refined sugar. Making sweets from flower nectar is so labor-intensive that...wait a minute...["That's why we invented bees."]? By "we" do you mean you and Darwin's Machine? ;)-- Dog Ed, May 10 2001 Well, actually I intended that comment to be a little bit ironic, but yeah, the Darwin's machine thing works too. However, it should be noted that honeybees are not as "natural" as most would assume, having been imported to the Americas by Europeans. Most honeybees in the U.S. are specifically an Italian species, though there are some others. In fact, as regards Darwin's machine, that particular device is currently working against the idea of using honeybees to produce honey, as another imported species, a mite, has essentially destroyed honeybees in the wild and is stressing captive bee populations. "Africanized" bees do not seem to have problems with the mite, but they're too aggressive for honey production using current techniques.-- beauxeault, May 10 2001 You need to change your name to beexeault. Is there an apiarist in the house?-- globaltourniquet, May 10 2001 Guilty. But only as a hobby-- beauxeault, May 11 2001 Most honeybees in the U.S. are specifically an Italian species, though there are some others.
I always wondered why my bees wore dagoÐTs and smoked ciggys-- bobzaguy, May 12 2001 I have better things to do with my time than sitting around crapping out honey. Even as I type there is television to be watched and alcohol to be drank. But it sounds like a swell idea for a David Cronenburg movie, call him and pitch it.-- deacon, May 12 2001 I had to log in again just to fishbone this idea >_<-- KittySama, Mar 20 2003 For some reason I was reminded of maple syrup urine disorder (MSUD), a genetic disorder that causes the urine to smell like maple syrup. Cannot find anything about whether it tastes like maple syrup or just plain urine. Hopefully I have turned a bee discussion into a urine drinking one.-- Captain_Ignorant, Feb 18 2004 Special gland eh? Methinks you talk from yours...-- fergdeff, Feb 18 2004 <wiggles rearend>-- k_sra, Feb 18 2004 "Hey, you know what would be cool? If people produced a sweet sticky substance!" Baked. Very.-- TerranFury, Feb 18 2004 random, halfbakery