Twice a year the Gurung people of central Nepal climb down ladders of bamboo and vine to the nests of the world's largest honey bee. Their spring honey can intoxicate – and, in larger amounts, poison.
Labels such as MGO 263 or UMF 10+ on manuka honey state its methylglyoxal content – a compound that forms only after the honey is harvested. New Zealand decides what may be exported as manuka with a precise laboratory test.
Honey made from rhododendron nectar contains grayanotoxins. In Turkey it is called deli bal – mad honey – and in antiquity it put whole armies out of action.
Tualang trees rise up to some 80 metres above the Malaysian rainforest, with dozens of giant-bee combs hanging from their branches. The honey is harvested at night, by the light of falling sparks.
When imported honey was checked at EU borders in 2021–2022, almost half the samples raised suspicion. How is honey adulterated, and how do laboratories catch it?
Every year, as winter ends, some two and a half million bee colonies from across the United States converge on California's almond orchards. Without them, the world's largest almond crop would not exist.
Set honey is neither spoilt nor fake. Crystallisation is a natural property of honey – and it can be gently reversed.
Tree beekeeping keeps bees in hollows of living trees. Since 2020 it has been on the UNESCO list of intangible heritage.
Slovenian beekeepers decorated hive fronts with scenes of daily life and jokes. Slovenian beekeeping has been UNESCO heritage since 2022.