“Is there hornet honey?” - This question often worries novice beekeepers. Indeed, these striped insects are somewhat similar to bees. They cohabit in a nest, nursing offspring, they have a distribution of responsibilities in a swarm. Wasps even make honeycombs. It would be logical to assume that these wax cells are filled with honey. But there are only more differences between wasps and bees than similarities. To begin with, wild striped insects are predators. And they feed their larvae not with honey. Adult wasps eat insects, chew them and feed offspring with this stuffing. Bees collect nectar from proboscis flowers. But wasps do not have this authority. But the insects themselves are happy to eat honey. So is it worth counting on feasting on honeycombs from an aspen nest? It is impossible to say that these insects are completely not melliferous. And in this article we will explain why.
South Polybia
The wasp family includes many species. These insects have a very wide habitat. In the southern states of the USA, Mexico and in the north of Latin America, the species Polybiinae Occidentalis (Polybia Occidentalis) is found. These wasps are remarkably similar in their habits to hard-working bees. These insects do not just pollinate flowers with their shaggy little body. They also collect, digest, and store flower nectar in their combs. And the question of whether there is hornet honey can be confidently answered in the affirmative. The product of the processing of nectar from the nests of Polybius Occidentalis was fed by the Yucatan Indians long before the arrival of Columbus ships. However, the natives of America did not breed apiaries. They just collected honey from wasp nests. This product is not as sweet as bee, but still tasty and nutritious. By the way, there is much less honey in the nest. Perhaps because of the tropical climate of South Polybius there is no need to accumulate it in reserve.
Brachygastra lecheguana
The family of folded-winged, to which wasps belong, is very numerous. Among them there are predators - polystyres. Unlike our yellow-black wasps, they lead a group lifestyle, and in a swarm of responsibilities are clearly distributed. As in the bee hive, the polystytes have a uterus laying their eggs, drones, and many working wasps: builders, hunters, and guards of the larvae. But there is a melliferous species among predatory polist. It is called Brachygastra lecheguana. These wasps live in the United States; their habitat extends to south Texas. Their honeycombs are very unusual: they are enveloped on the outside with a paper cover. Like all polisty, they also feed on insects, but lay wasp honey in their nests. In one such swarm live about fifteen thousand individuals. This species of wasps likes to nest in the crowns of citrus trees. The “bee” lifestyle of the Brachygastra species is all the more surprising because their ancestors were exceptional meat-eaters.
Is it possible to eat wasp honey?
Beekeepers know that there are special enzymes in the bee’s stomach. It is they who are responsible for the fact that from nectar and pollen a tasty and sweet honey is obtained. Wasps do not have such enzymes. However, the Indians of Latin America did not know sugarcane (and especially white beets) before the Europeans arrived on the continent. The only sweetener for them was the honey produced by the species of Polybius Occidentalis. It is very fragrant, but crystallizes quickly, because it is pollen with flower nectar. Since the production of honey in wasps differs from bee honey, the properties of poisonous plants are transferred to the product. So, nectar and pollen from dope can cause serious poisoning in humans. But Polybia Occidentalis is a honey species. If you take care of these insects, they can produce more product than they need for their life.
Do we look for honey in an aspen nest in our latitudes?
Everyone can notice that brisk yellow-black insects love to feast on sweets. It is worth opening a jar of honey or jam - and they are right there. Wasps swirl over flowering meadows and over apple trees and lindens. Do these predators prey on bees or collect nectar? Gardeners believe that wasps pollinate plants no worse than shaggy toilers from hives. But, unfortunately, striped insects have not only enzymes that allow pollen and nectar to turn into honey, but even a proboscis for collection. Wasps do not mind eating the sweet juice of flowers, but they do not store it in their nests and do not harvest it for the winter. But still there is something similar to honey in their honeycombs. This substance is called "spray". This is a thin layer of honey, so scanty as the amount of wax covering the cooking paper.
What does it taste like - wasp spray?
Seventeen kilograms of honey can be pumped out of one bee family, whose hive stands on a good flower plot. Under the same conditions, only a few grams of this product can be scraped off in an aspen swarm. Moreover, it can be called honey at a stretch. It is much thicker with lots of unprocessed pollen. The mineral composition of this nectar is very different from bee honey. The spray contains more minerals, protein and sucrose. It is not too sweet and very thick. Moreover, it is negligible. Sprayed insects only feed their larvae. But gardeners are trying to attract swarms of wasps. Why? Gardeners do not think about whether there is honey in an aspen nest. They are interested in other qualities of these insects.
The benefits of wasps
These insects pollinate trees with their shaggy little bodies no worse than bees. They are more resistant to cold, and appear in gardens when the bee swarms have not yet flown out (at a time when cherries bloom). But the main merit of yellow-black predators is, of course, not wasp honey, but the ability of insects to eat various garden pests. Amorphilla species feeds on cicadas, leaf beetles, grinders and flies. Earth (or digging) wasps eat a bear and their larvae and are very active in destroying caterpillars. So these predators, of course, can be called "orderlies in the garden." Do not be afraid of an aspen bite. If a person is not allergic to bees, then the poison of these insects will have only a beneficial, tonic effect on the body. Health hazards can only occur if there are multiple bites (at least twenty).
Are wasps capable of domestication?
Bees are at a higher stage of development. They have a distribution of responsibilities and even language. So, there are scout bees, whose functions include only the search for flowering plants. They report the find to the "gatherers." They fly to the specified address and collect nectar and pollen. Under the influence of the secretion of the salivary glands and enzymes, they turn into a honey product. It goes through several phases of development in the hive. Receiving bees place it in a honeycomb, filling them no more than a quarter. After evaporation of excess moisture, working insects transfer it to the upper part of the hive. They fill the honeycombs to the top and seal them with wax caps. And if you take care of the bees, they will bring much more honey than they need to feed themselves and their offspring. The Indians of Latin America, too, were engaged in flight support. As a result, they received wasp honey, however, in smaller quantities than bees can bring.
Alcoholic Dessert Cocktail
Experienced barista know how to cook "wasp honey" with their own hands. To do this, beat four egg yolks, add them to a can of condensed milk. Still work as a mixer, achieving airiness of the mass. After this, mix a spoonful of instant coffee with a very small amount of boiling water (so that the granules disappear). Mix with milk-yolk mass. Pour one hundred milliliters of alcohol with a thin stream (eat such a spoon with a dessert) or a glass of vodka (a cocktail is served with a straw). Place the finished product in the refrigerator for an hour.