Honey is our favourite natural sweetener. Originally bees make honey to feed themselves, although since humans discovered it, it became a delight for humans as well. In addition to its exceptional taste, certain health benefits have been attributed to honey, although the evidence supporting its medicinal applications remains limited in some cases.

Honey is the natural, sweet and viscous substance produced by bees of the species Apis mellifera from the nectar of plants or from secretions of plant parts or secretions of plant-sucking insects found on the living parts of plants, which the bees collect, transform by mixing with special substances of their body, deposit, dehydrate, store and keep in the honeycombs of the beehive, in order to mature. Bees make honey to feed the young larvae and also to eat themselves during the winter when there are not many flowers and blossoms. 

The nectar collected by the bees from the blossoms and flowers is first stored inside their body in a special sac, called the prolobus or protostomach or social stomach. Arriving at their home, the hive, they extract the nectar and share it with many of their sisters, remove the moisture (water) from the nectar and eventually make, our beloved, honey. There, it is stored to mature inside their hive[2].

Not only humans love honey, it is also consumed by different animals such as bears, badgers and even ants. Βees produce honey in excess and humans take advantage of this fact. European bees of the genus A. mellifera can collect, produce and store large quantities of honey, far more than they can eat during the winter, so humans actually take this surplus[2].