Mellivory

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The word mellivory derives from the Latin {{lang|la|mel}}, "honey", and -{{lang|la|vorous}}, "-eating".{{Cite web |title=Definition of MELLIVOROUS |url=https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/mellivorous |access-date=2022-09-26 |website=www.merriam-webster.com |language=en}}

Honey is a syrup composed of several simple sugars, primarily fructose and glucose.{{Cite web |date=2020-12-23 |title=What is Honey? |url=https://foodinsight.org/what-is-honey/ |access-date=2022-09-21 |website=Food Insight |language=en-US}} Wild honey also contains traces of bee larvae, adding fat, protein, vitamins, and minerals.{{Cite web |last=Wayman |first=Erin |title=Humans, the Honey Hunters |url=https://www.smithsonianmag.com/science-nature/humans-the-honey-hunters-9760262/ |access-date=2022-09-26 |website=Smithsonian Magazine |language=en}} In many environments honey is the single richest source of carbohydrates for the organisms that consume it. It has been suggested that the concentrated energy provided by honey is in part what allowed humans to evolve such large brains, as large brains are metabolically expensive. Honey also has limited antimicrobial properties.

File:Beekeepingaegypt.jpg

{{main|Honey}}

Over its history as a food the main uses of honey have lain in cooking, baking, confection, as a spread on bread, as an addition to various beverages such as tea, and as a sweetener in some commercial beverages.{{Citation |last=White |first=Jonathan W. |title=Honey |year=1978 |series=Advances in Food Research |volume=24 |pages=287–374 |editor-last=Chichester |editor-first=C. O. |publisher=Academic Press |doi=10.1016/s0065-2628(08)60160-3|pmid=367113 |isbn=9780120164240 }}

Due to its energy density, honey is an important food for virtually all hunter-gatherer cultures in warm climates, with the Hadza people ranking honey as their favorite food.{{cite journal |last1=Marlowe |first1=Frank W. |last2=Berbesque |first2=J. Colette |last3=Wood |first3=Brian |last4=Crittenden |first4=Alyssa |last5=Porter |first5=Claire |last6=Mabulla |first6=Audax |title=Honey, Hadza, hunter-gatherers, and human evolution |journal=Journal of Human Evolution |date=1 June 2014 |volume=71 |pages=119–128 |doi=10.1016/j.jhevol.2014.03.006 |pmid=24746602|bibcode=2014JHumE..71..119M }} Honey hunters in Africa have a mutualistic relationship with certain species of honeyguide birds.{{Cite journal|last1=Spottiswoode|first1=Claire N.|last2=Begg|first2=Keith S.|last3=Begg|first3=Colleen M.|date=2016-07-22|title=Reciprocal signaling in honeyguide-human mutualism|url=https://www.science.org/doi/10.1126/science.aaf4885|journal=Science|volume=353|issue=6297|pages=387–389|doi=10.1126/science.aaf4885|issn=0036-8075|pmid=27463674|publisher=American Association for the Advancement of Science|bibcode=2016Sci...353..387S|s2cid=206648494}}

Possibly the world's oldest fermented beverage, dating from 9,000 years ago,{{cite journal |last1=McGovern |first1=Patrick E. |last2=Zhang |first2=Juzhong |last3=Tang |first3=Jigen |last4=Zhang |first4=Zhiqing |last5=Hall |first5=Gretchen R. |last6=Moreau |first6=Robert A. |last7=Nuñez |first7=Alberto |last8=Butrym |first8=Eric D. |last9=Richards |first9=Michael P. |last10=Wang |first10=Chen-shan |last11=Cheng |first11=Guangsheng |last12=Zhao |first12=Zhijun |last13=Wang |first13=Changsui |title=Fermented beverages of pre- and proto-historic China |journal=Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences |date=21 December 2004 |volume=101 |issue=51 |pages=17593–17598 |doi=10.1073/pnas.0407921102 |pmid=15590771 |pmc=539767 |bibcode=2004PNAS..10117593M |doi-access=free }} mead (also known as honey wine) is the alcoholic product made by adding yeast to honey-water must and fermenting it for weeks or months.{{cite journal |last1=Pereira |first1=Ana Paula |last2=Mendes-Ferreira |first2=Ana |last3=Estevinho |first3=Leticia M. |last4=Mendes-Faia |first4=Arlete |title=Improvement of mead fermentation by honey-must supplementation |journal=Journal of the Institute of Brewing |date=2015 |volume=121 |issue=3 |pages=405–410 |doi=10.1002/jib.239 |hdl=10198/16120 |hdl-access=free }}{{cite journal|pmid=25153872|pmc=6271869|year=2014|last1=Iglesias|first1=A|title=Developments in the fermentation process and quality improvement strategies for mead production|journal=Molecules|volume=19|issue=8|pages=12577–90|last2=Pascoal|first2=A|last3=Choupina|first3=A. B.|last4=Carvalho|first4=C. A.|last5=Feás|first5=X|last6=Estevinho|first6=L. M.|doi=10.3390/molecules190812577|doi-access=free}} The yeast Saccharomyces cerevisiae is commonly used in modern mead production.

Mead varieties include drinks called metheglin (with spices or herbs), melomel (with fruit juices, such as grape, specifically called pyment), hippocras (with cinnamon), and sack mead (with a high concentration of honey).{{cite magazine|last=Tierney |first=John|title=Making Mead in a Space-Age World|url=https://www.theatlantic.com/business/archive/2014/10/making-mead-in-a-space-age-world/381433/|magazine=The Atlantic|access-date=20 June 2017|date=21 October 2014}} Honey is also used to make mead beer, called "braggot".{{cite web|title=Braggot: The Best of Mead and Beer|url=https://www.homebrewersassociation.org/how-to-brew/braggot-the-best-of-mead-and-beer/|publisher=American Home Brewers Association|access-date=19 June 2017|date=2017}}

{{See also|Apitherapy}}

Honey is a folk treatment for burns and other skin injuries. Preliminary evidence suggests that it aids in the healing of partial thickness burns 4–5 days faster than other dressings, and moderate evidence suggests that post-operative infections treated with honey heal faster and with fewer adverse events than with antiseptic and gauze.{{Cite journal |title=Honey as a topical treatment for wounds |last1=Jull |first1=Andrew B. |last2=Cullum |first2=Nicky |last3=Dumville |first3=Jo C. |last4=Westby |first4=Maggie J. |last5=Deshpande |first5=Sohan |last6=Walker |first6=Natalie |year=2015 |journal=Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews |volume=2015 |issue=3 |pages=CD005083 |pmid=25742878 |doi=10.1002/14651858.cd005083.pub4 |pmc=9719456 |quote=Honey appears to heal partial thickness burns more quickly than conventional treatment (which included polyurethane film, paraffin gauze, soframycin-impregnated gauze, sterile linen and leaving the burns exposed) and infected post-operative wounds more quickly than antiseptics and gauze.|url=https://espace.library.uq.edu.au/view/UQ:370288/UQ370288_OA.pdf }} Honey has long been used as a topical antibiotic by practitioners of traditional and herbal medicine.{{cite book |last1=Buhner |first1=Stephen Harrod |title=Herbal Antibiotics: Natural Alternatives for Treating Drug-Resistant Bacteria |date=2012 |publisher=Storey Publishing |isbn=978-1603429870 |pages=188–196 |edition=2nd}}{{cite book |editor1-last=Boukraâ |editor1-first=Laïd |title=Honey in Traditional and Modern Medicine |date=2014 |publisher=CRC Press |isbn=9781439840160 |page=126}}

In myths and folk medicine, honey was used both orally and topically to treat various ailments including gastric disturbances, ulcers, skin wounds, and skin burns by ancient Greeks and Egyptians, and in Ayurveda and traditional Chinese medicine.{{cite journal |vauthors=Pećanac M, Janjić Z, Komarcević A, Pajić M, Dobanovacki D, Misković SS| title = Burns treatment in ancient times | journal = Med Pregl | volume = 66 | issue = 5–6 | pages = 263–7 | year = 2013 | pmid = 23888738 | doi = 10.1016/s0264-410x(02)00603-5 }} Honey is used in apitherapy as a form of alternative medicine.{{cite book |last1=Barry R. |first1=Cassileth |author-link=Barrie R. Cassileth |title=The Complete Guide to Complementary Therapies in Cancer Care: Essential Information for Patients, Survivors and Health Professionals |chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=J6kLNKw5baYC&pg=PA221 |year=2011 |publisher=World Scientific |isbn=978-981-4335-66-9 |pages=221–224 |chapter=Chapter 36: Apitherapy}}

Humans consume honey as parts of some religions. In Judaism during Rosh Hashanah, apples are dipped in honey as a siman (symbol/omen) for a sweet new year. The custom is referenced neither in Tanach or the Talmud; one of its earliest mentions is in the interpolation of Rabbi Moses Isserless to the Shulchan Aruch, which he cites as a non-universal custom—unlike other Rosh Hashana simanim like beets and leek.{{Cite book |title=Rema, Orach Chaim 583:1}} Nevertheless, the custom has grown to become nearly universal. Some suggest the custom has different or more ancient origins; Dr. Jefferey Cohen suggests the custom is a reminder of the manna provided by God to the Israelites as sustenance while wandering through the desert for 40 years.{{Cite web |last=Bramen |first=Lisa |title=Why Honey Is Eaten for Rosh Hashanah, and Other Burning Questions |url=https://www.smithsonianmag.com/arts-culture/why-honey-is-eaten-for-rosh-hashanah-and-other-burning-questions-68302694/ |access-date=2022-09-26 |website=Smithsonian Magazine |language=en}} In Hinduism, honey (Madhu) is one of the five elixirs of life (Panchamrita). In temples, honey is poured over the deities in a ritual called Madhu abhisheka. The Vedas and other ancient literature mention the use of honey as a great medicinal and health food.[http://www.fjnet.com/english/society/t20061117_41041.htm A Meaningful Story of Buddha, Elephant and Monkey] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080319080236/http://www.fjnet.com/english/society/t20061117_41041.htm |date=19 March 2008 }} by Marguerite Theophil, United Press International, 16 November 2006, accessed 9 August 2008 In Buddhism, honey plays an important role in the festival of Madhu Purnima, celebrated in India and Bangladesh. The day commemorates Buddha's making peace among his disciples by retreating into the wilderness. According to legend, while he was there a monkey brought him honey to eat. On Madhu Purnima, Buddhists remember this act by giving honey to monks. The monkey's gift is frequently depicted in Buddhist art. In Islam, according to the hadith, Muhammad strongly recommended honey for healing purposes. The Quran promotes honey as a nutritious and healthy food.{{cite book|first='Abdullah |last=Yusuf 'Ali |title=An Nahl, Al-Quran Chapter 16 (The Bee) quoted from "The Holy Qur'an: Original Arabic Text with English Translation & Selected Commentaries" |url=http://muslimaccess.com/quraan/translations/yusufali/016.htm |access-date=20 May 2013 |publisher=Saba Islamic Media |url-status=bot: unknown |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130226013840/http://muslimaccess.com/quraan/translations/yusufali/016.htm |archive-date=26 February 2013 |df=dmy-all }}

File:SmokeyBear2.jpg eating honey and berries in his enclosure in the National Zoo in 1984]]

There are several species of insects that are considered pests in beekeeping. Notably, small hive beetles, the unaptly named bee louse (a species of fly), ants, wasps and wax moths such as Galleria mellonella and Achroia grisella cause damage by eating honey directly. Bees themselves also feed honey to their larvae. Western honey bees will rob honey from other hives, as will yellowjacket wasps.{{Cite web |title=ENY-163/IN1064: Robbing Behavior in Honey Bees |url=https://edis.ifas.ufl.edu/publication/IN1064 |access-date=2022-09-22 |website=edis.ifas.ufl.edu |language=en}} In the Nomada genus, which is a genus of cleptoparasites, the female enters a beehive to deposit her eggs, and leaves. The offspring will eat the hive's resources and eventually leave themselves.{{Cite web |title=About The Nomad Bee - Species, Life Cycles And Hosts |url=https://www.buzzaboutbees.net/nomad-bee.html |access-date=2022-09-22 |website=BuzzAboutBees.net}}

Honey is eaten by several types of mammals, notably skunks, raccoons, opossums, kinkajous, bears, and honey badgers.{{Cite web |last= |first= |date=2018-05-28 |title=5 Animals That Love Raw Honey |url=https://manukahoneyusa.com/5-animals-that-love-raw-honey/ |access-date=2022-09-20 |website=Manuka Honey USA |language=en-US}} Bears in particular are stereotyped as commonly attacking beehives, which does happen in nature. Bears are attracted to beehives for not just the honey, but also larvae and immature honey bees, which provide fat and protein.{{Cite web |last=Manning |first=Elizabeth |title=ASK A WILDLIFE BIOLOGIST, Alaska Department of Fish and Game |url=https://www.adfg.alaska.gov/index.cfm?adfg=wildlifenews.view_article&articles_id=371 |access-date=2022-09-21 |website=www.adfg.alaska.gov |language=en}} The Russian term for bear, literally "Honey Eater", reflects this. Honey badgers are also well known for raiding beehives and eating honey,Stievater, Becca (26 June 2019). "[https://wildnet.org/beehive-fences-to-deter-elephants-and-honey-badgers Beehive Fences to Deter Both Elephants and Honey Badgers]". wildnet.org. Retrieved 20 September 2022.{{Cite web | last1=Zielinski |first1=Sarah |title=Honey Badgers Are Real |url=https://www.smithsonianmag.com/science-nature/honey-badgers-are-real-39896731/ |access-date=2022-09-23 |website=Smithsonian Magazine |language=en}} and are named after this part of their diet.

Honey and beeswax are also eaten by some birds, including honey buzzards and honeyguides, the latter of which are known to guide humans to bee colonies in order to partake in foraging mutualism.

Honey, despite having limited antimicrobial properties,{{Cite journal |last1=Mandal |first1=Manisha Deb |last2=Mandal |first2=Shyamapada |title=Honey: its medicinal property and antibacterial activity |journal=Asian Pacific Journal of Tropical Biomedicine |year=2011 |volume=1 |issue=2 |pages=154–160 |doi=10.1016/S2221-1691(11)60016-6 |issn=2221-1691 |pmc=3609166 |pmid=23569748}} is consumed by some microorganisms, particularly yeasts and spore-forming bacteria.{{Cite journal |last1=Snowdon |first1=Jill A |last2=Cliver |first2=Dean O |date=1996-08-01 |title=Microorganisms in honey |url=https://dx.doi.org/10.1016/0168-1605%2896%2900970-1 |journal=International Journal of Food Microbiology |language=en |volume=31 |issue=1 |pages=1–26 |doi=10.1016/0168-1605(96)00970-1 |pmid=8880294 |issn=0168-1605}} Notable fungi found in honey are Alternaria alternata, Aspergillus niger, Aspergillus proliferans, Aspergillus spelunceus, Chaetomium globosum, Cladosporium cladosporioides, Daldinia concentrica, Emericella discophora, Emericella qinqixianii, Penicillium corylophilum, Penicillium decumbens, Penicillium polonicum, and Penicillium echinulatum, while notable bacteria species are Debaryomyces hansenii, Zygosaccharomyces rouxii, Zygosaccharomyces mellis, Aureobasidium pullulans, and Cryptococcus uzbekistanensis.{{Cite book |last=Toledo |first=Vagner De Alencar Arnaut De |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=T_iODwAAQBAJ&dq=microorganisms+in+honey&pg=PA233 |title=Honey Analysis |date=2017-03-15 |publisher=BoD – Books on Demand |isbn=978-953-51-2879-3 |language=en}}

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Category:Honey

Category:Animals by eating behaviors