Excerpt:
Honey is the sweet viscous fluid elaborated by bees from nectar obtained from plant nectaries, chiefly floral. After transportation to the hive in the honey stomach, this fluid is ripened and stored
in the comb for food. Other definitions may be more restrictive. For example, the U.S. Food and Drug advisory definition for honey states that “Honey is the nectar and saccharine exudation of
plants, gathered, modified, and stored in the comb by honeybees (Apis mellifera and A. dorsata); is levorotatory; contains not more than 25 percent water, not more than 0.25 percent ash, and not
more than 8 percent sucrose.” Although this definition once served a useful purpose, it is considered today to allow much too high a content of water and sucrose and is too low in ash. Both definitions exclude honeydew.
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