When bees make honey, they perform two
basic tasks: they remove a very dilute solution
of sugar from plants, and then evaporate off
most of the water. What the bees evolved to
do instinctively and with their own muscles
and enzymes, humans have learned to do with
the help of tools and fire. We make syrups and
sugars by extracting dilute juices from plants,
and then boiling off most or all of the water.
Of the man-made sweets, tree syrups and
sugars are most like honey in that they retain
nearly all the original contents of the sap, and
are not refined to the extent that cane and beet
sugars are.
Food Words: Honey
Though we think of the essence of honey as
sweetness, the English word arises from its
col or. Honey comes from an Indo-
European root meaning “yellow.” The
Indo-Europeans of course enjoyed honey
and had a name for it. The modern