Honey

A sweet, sticky treat

Honey is a sweet and viscous substance produced by some varieties of bees and wasps. Created by the bees from either nectar or honeydew, its sweetness is derived from a mixture of fructose and glucose.
For the people of Etrea, honey is commonly used for sustenance, either by itself or as a component of - or to enhance - certain dishes. It also is widely used across the world for different medicinal and ritual purposes.
In some cultures, bees have been semi-domesticated in order to provide a stable and reliable source of honey. Other cultures rely only on collection from wild hives.

Taste

Sweet, with a variety of flavour notes dependent on origin

Colour

A spectrum between light yellow-cream to dark amber-brown

Creation

Honey is created by a hive's worker bees for use as sustenance when the weather is cold or when other food sources are scarce. A proportion of worker bees work as foragers. They leave the hive and collect nectar (or honeydew) through their proboscis, storing the majority of it in their specialised honey stomach. The rest is used for energy during their forage expedition, as a bee can visit around a thousand flowers in a single trip.
After they return to the hive, the forager bees transfer the nectar to the hive worker bees. The hive bees use their honey stomachs to partially digest the nectar and regurgitate it, forming bubbles between their mandibles which helps to evaporate some of the water content. The bees' digestive enzymes help hydrolyse the sucrose in the nectar to fructose and glucose, as well as to break down other starches and proteins to increase the acidity. The hive bees work together until this new liquid is ready for storage, a process which takes around twenty minutes.
The hive bees then place the liquid in hexagonal cells of honeycomb. They do not seal the cells straight away, as this could cause the honey to ferment. Instead, they use a combination of their body heat and the fluttering of their wings to regulate the temperature in the hive, continuing to evaporate excess water from the honey. When the honey reaches the correct composition, the bees cap the cells with wax, forming an airtight seal. Honey is stored this way until it is needed by the hive.

by Dustin Humes

Toxic Honey

Honey created from certain flowers can have less than desirable effects when ingested by humans, as it ends up laced with the plant's natural toxins. Notable examples include certain varieties of rhododendron, laurels, or azaleas. Some insects that have their honeydew harvested can also introduce their poison into the finished honey.
Honey intoxication does not strike everyone who eats honey originating from these plants; a greater volume of honey consumed makes it more likely, but not inevitable. Symptoms of honey intoxication include delirium, vomiting, weakness, convulsions, and - in some rare cases - death.
In Avar, toxic honey is deliberately cultivated for use as a male enhancement remedy, with occasionally fatal consequences.

Floral Honey

Honey differs in both taste and appearance depending on which flowers the nectar used in its creation originates from.
Most wild honey tends to be polyfloral - that is, the nectar has been collected from many varieties of flower, depending on what is blooming close to the hive. The flavour varies from year to year.
Monofloral honey is primarly created from one kind of flower, often due to intervention by people. These honeys have a distinct flavour, and differ wildly from country to country. It is almost impossible to create a pure monofloral honey, as humanoid control over the bees is limited.

Honeydew Honey

Honeydew honey is made from the secretions of certain varieties of insects, such as aphids. Dark brown in colour, it has a strong, almost fruity flavour, and is not as sweet as floral honey. Honeydew honey is particularly popular in some areas of Moragul.
Honeydew can actually be dangerous for the bees who harvest it, as they struggle to digest it. This can mean the death of colonies during the depths of winter.

by Annie Spratt

History

For thousands of years, honey has been collected by the humanoid races of Etrea.
In some cultures, such as the Emehr of the Jasperic Isles, the method of collection has not changed much throughout history. For the Emehr, adolescent boys have the job of finding wild hives and harvesting honeycomb during the correct season. This is seen somewhat as a rite of passage. In Coranir, fields of flowers are planted to attract bees and tempt them into making their hives nearby. The honey is then collected in a sustainable fashion, leaving enough for the bees to be able to survive the harsh winter.
Elsewhere, people known as beekeepers fashion hives for the bees to live in. In some places, these hives are merely a box, and in others hives have removable wooden frames for the bees to create their honeycomb. Collection differs depending on the type of hive. With the former, beekeepers take all of the available honey, sacrificing the colony to starve during the winter months. They will then replace the colony in the spring.
With the latter, the frames can be lifted out and the honey collected easily. Smoke is used to pacify the bees before collection; the smoke obscures the pheromones the bees use to communicate. In this case, the beekeepers leave at least one frame of honey and supplement the bees' food storage with sugared water, ensuring that the colony survives the winter.

Honey as Food

Honey is used in the cuisine of many cultures across Etrea. It gives a lot of energy compared to its volume, so it is considered a staple in poorer areas with access to wild hives. Honey can be eaten straight from the comb, spread on bread, or used in baking. It can also be used as a sweetener in certain beverages or with yoghurt, or used to flavour different foods.
Mead is one of the oldest alcoholic beverages in Etrea, created by fermenting honey with water. To this base mead, one can add various fruits, grains, or spices in order to change the flavour of the final product. In some cultures, there is also a tradition of honey wine, which is made by fermenting fruits sweetened with honey.

by Annie Spratt

Honey in Medicine

Honey has been used for medicinal purposes throughout history and across cultures. It is often used in wound care, as it is believed to prevent infections and to expedite healing. This is true in the case of both lacerations and burns. Scholars in several countries have, in recent years, started to research this further.
It is also popular to use a mixture of honey and warm water to soothe a cough or a sore throat. In some countries, a spoonful of honey is recommended to counteract seasonal allergies, although its effectiveness is debated.

Health Hazards

In some cultures, it is considered unsafe to give honey to infants under the age of one. Infant consumption has been known to lead to honey sickness, symptoms of which include respiratory issues, a changed cry, paralysis, and even death. The cause is currently unknown, though some scholars theorise that some kinds of honey may contain invisible toxins.

by Daria-Yakovleva

Cultural Significance

As well as being used as food and medicine, honey has a much deeper importance in some cultures.
In the matriarchal country of Helvia, honey is used in the coronation of the queen. It is believed that honey is a substance with a direct link to the gods, and its role in the coronation is to symbolise the divine acknowledgement of the new queen.
Honey is also used in the funeral rites in Abror. The deceased is covered in honey before they are sealed in their tomb, as it is believed that honey will aid in the preservation of their body.
In Senairi, only a few generations ago, the king was murdered by being drowned in a bowl of honey. Since then, it has been forbidden by law to possess or consume honey within the palace walls.