Folk Syrups, Nectar Drinks & Insect Honeys

Across cultures and centuries, the idea of ‘honey’ has extended far beyond the hive. Many peoples developed plant-based sweeteners from tree sap, fruit reductions, and natural plant secretions that could be gathered, filtered, or slowly concentrated. In some traditions these stood in for refined sugar; in others they were the sweetness, native to a place and a season. In this section: syrups and preserves made without bees, drinks made from flower nectar, and honey stored by insects that are not bees.

Honey Grevillea Nectar sucked from grevillea flowers or swirled through water makes honeywater -- an Aboriginal sweet drink whose story is painted in collections as far as the British Museum. Honey Ants A honey made by ants, not bees: stored in the living bodies of the colony and gathered as food by desert peoples in Australia, Mexico, and the American Southwest. Dandelion Syrup A traditional flower syrup made from dandelion blossoms, resembling honey in color and consistency but made without bees. Meloja A dark, complex preserve from the mountains of southern Spain made by reducing honey-infused wax washings with traditional local crops.