Honey is really regurgitated nectar transformed by enzymes (chiefly invertase) in the bees’ glands into an ‘invert’ solution, then evaporated in the wax cells through a fanning action into a concentrated syrup. This is the real ‘secret’ of honey: enzyme action and hard work.3 Nectar is a more or less watery solution of sugars which vary depending on the flower involved but which always include sucrose. The bees use the enzymes produced by their hypopharyngeal glands to convert this sucrose into glucose and fructose, then condense them into a supersaturated solution which keeps well and packs
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