Honey has been shown to have a number of health effects in humans and animals. These effects relate partly to the phytochemicals within the honey that originates in the plants, and partly to the chemicals added by bees during the manufacture of honey. Honey is in effect, bee food, and therefore it is not surprising that honey has a number of beneficial health effects for bees also. The food of the adult worker bees is nectar and pollen, and the nutrition of this varies depending from where the nectar and pollen has been collected. Artificial hives can feed a variety of substitutes if the nutritional availability for the bees is low, and these include basic foods such as soybean flour, skimmed milk or brewer’s yeast. Nectar is an important source of energy for the bees and the plants produce nectar to encourage insects, including bees, to visit their flowers to spread their pollen, a process required for certain flowering plants’ reproductive cycles. This shows the importance of the symbiotic relationship between bees and plants.
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