Is there aspen honey?

"Is there an aspen honey?" - this question often worries novice beekeepers. And it's true, these striped insects look like bees in something. They live together in a nest, care for offspring, they have a distribution of responsibilities in the swarm. Wasps even make combs. It would be logical to assume that these wax cells are filled with honey. But only differences between wasps and bees are much greater than similarities. To begin with, wild striped insects are predators. And they feed their larvae not with honey. Adult wasps eat insects, chew on them and this stuffing feed offspring. The bees collect the nectar from the flowers with the proboscis. In this body there is no such organ. But the insects themselves gladly eat honey. So is it worth it to expect to eat honeycomb from a hornet's nest? It is impossible to say that these insects are not at all mellified. And in this article we will explain why.

South Polybia

The family of wasps includes many species. These insects have a very wide range of habitats. In the southern states of the USA, Mexico and in the north of Latin America, the species Polybiinae Occidentalis (Polybia Occidentalis) occurs. These wasps are surprisingly similar in habits to hardworking bees. These insects do not just pollinate flowers with their furry body. They also collect, digest and accumulate floral nectar in honeycombs. And on the question of whether there is aspen honey, it is possible to answer with confidence in the affirmative. The product of processing nectar from the nests of Polibia Occidentalis was fed by the Yucatan Indians long before the arrival of the ships of Columbus. However, the aborigines of America did not breed apiaries. They just collected honey from the aspen nests. This product is not as sweet as a bee, but still tasty and nutritious. By the way, in the nest of honey is much less. Perhaps, from the fact that in the tropical climate of South Polybi there is no need to accumulate it in reserve.

Brachygastra lecheguana

The family of the folded wing, to which the wasps belong, is very numerous. There are among them predators - polists. Unlike our yellow-black wasps, they lead a group way of life, and in the swarm they have clearly assigned responsibilities. As in a beehive hive, politicians have a queen, laying eggs, drones and many working wasps: builders, hunters, guards of larvae. But there is a honeycomb among the ravenous polistas. It is called Brachygastra lecheguana. These wasps live in the US, their habitat extends to the south of Texas. Their honeycombs are very unusual: they are enveloped from the outside by a paper sheath. Like all the polists, they also feed on insects, but they lay aspen honey in their nests. In one such swarm live about fifteen thousand individuals. Nests like this kind of wasps are arranged in crones of citrus trees. The "bee" lifestyle of the Brachygastra species is all the more amazing that their ancestors were exceptional meat eaters.

Is it possible to eat aspen honey?

Beekeepers know that there are special enzymes in the stomach of the bee. They are responsible for the fact that from the nectar and the pollen you get a tasty and sweet honey. In wasps, there are no such enzymes. However, the Indians of Latin America before the arrival of Europeans on the continent did not know the sugar cane (and especially the white beets). The only sweetener for them was honey, produced by the species os Polybia Occidentalis. It is very fragrant, but crystallizes quickly, as it is pollen with floral nectar. Since the production of honey in wasps differs from bees, the properties of poisonous plants are also transferred to the product. Thus, nectar and pollen from dope can cause serious poisoning in humans. But Polybia Occidentalis is a honey-colored species. If you care for these insects, they can work out more product than they need for their livelihoods.

Should we search for honey in an aspen nest in our latitudes?

Anyone can notice that the bright yellow-black insects like to eat sweets. It is necessary to open a jar of honey or jam - and they are right there. The wasps spin over blooming meadows and over apple and lime trees. Do these predators hunt for bees or collect nectar? Gardeners believe that wasps pollinate plants no worse than furry 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 are not averse to enjoying the sweet juice of flowers, but in their nests they do not store it and do not harvest it for the winter. But still something similar to honey in their honeycombs is. This substance is called an "injection". This is a thin layer of honey, so miserable as the amount of wax covering the culinary paper.

What does he taste: an aspen spray?

From one bee family, whose beehive stands on a good flower plot, you can pump seventeen kilograms of honey. In the same conditions, the aspen swarm can only scrape together a few grams of this product. And honey it can be called with a big stretch. It is much thicker, with a lot of un-processed pollen. According to the mineral composition, this nectar is very different from honey bee. The injection contains more minerals, protein and sucrose. It is not too sweet and very thick. In addition, it is negligible. Injection of 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 the aspen nest. They are interested in other qualities of these insects.

Benefits of wasps

These insects pollinate their trees with their furry bodies no worse than bees. They are more resistant to cold, and appear in the gardens when bee swarms have not yet flown away (at the time when cherries bloom). But the main merit of yellow-black predators is, of course, not aspen honey, but the ability of insects to eat various garden pests. The species of Amorphala feeds on cicadas, leaf eaters, grinders and flies. Earth (or burrowing) wasps eat the bears and their larvae and are very active in destroying caterpillars. So these predators, of course, can be called "sanitari garden." Do not be afraid of an aspen bite. If a person does not have allergies 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 numerous bites (at least twenty).

Are the wasps capable of domestication?

Bees stand at a higher stage of development. They have a distribution of duties and even language. So, there are bee-scouts, whose functions include only the search for flowering plants. They report the find to the "collectors". Those fly to the specified address and collect nectar and pollen. Under the action of the secretion of the salivary glands and enzymes, they turn into a honey product. It passes several phases of development in the hive. Bees-receivers place it in a honeycomb, filling them with no more than a quarter. After evaporation of excess moisture workers insects carry it to the upper part of the hive. They fill the honeycombs to the top and seal them with wax lids. And if you look after bees, they will bring much more honey than they need to feed themselves and their offspring. Indians of Latin America, too, were engaged in beekeeping. As a result, they received aspen honey, however, in smaller quantities than bees can bring.

Alcohol cocktail-dessert

Experienced baristas know how to make "aspen honey" with their own hands. To do this, beat four egg yolks, add them to a can of condensed milk. Another work mixer, achieving air mass. After that, a spoonful of instant coffee mixed with a very small amount of boiling water (that the granules disappeared). Stir with milky-yolk mass. In a thin trickle pour a hundred milliliters of alcohol (such a dessert is eaten with a spoon) or a glass of vodka (a cocktail is served with a tube). Put the finished product in the refrigerator for an hour.