Editing Honey (section)

== Modern uses ==
=== Food ===
{{Main|Mellivory}}

Over its history as a food,<ref name=hunt /> the main uses of honey are in cooking, baking, desserts, as a spread on bread, as an addition to various beverages such as tea, and as a sweetener in some commercial beverages.<ref>{{Citation |last=White |first=Jonathan W. |title=Honey |year=1978 |series=Advances in Food Research |volume=24 |pages=287–374 |editor-last=Chichester |editor-first=C. O. |publisher=Academic Press |doi=10.1016/s0065-2628(08)60160-3 |pmid=367113 |isbn=978-0-12-016424-0}}</ref>

Due to its energy density, honey is an important food for virtually all [[hunter-gatherer]] cultures in warm climates, with the [[Hadza people]] ranking honey as their favorite food.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Marlowe |first1=Frank W. |last2=Berbesque |first2=J. Colette |last3=Wood |first3=Brian |last4=Crittenden |first4=Alyssa |last5=Porter |first5=Claire |last6=Mabulla |first6=Audax |title=Honey, Hadza, hunter-gatherers, and human evolution |journal=Journal of Human Evolution |date=1 June 2014 |volume=71 |pages=119–128 |doi=10.1016/j.jhevol.2014.03.006 |pmid=24746602|bibcode=2014JHumE..71..119M }}</ref> [[Honey hunting|Honey hunters]] in Africa have a [[Mutualism (biology)|mutualistic]] relationship with certain species of [[honeyguide]] birds.<ref>{{Cite journal |last1=Spottiswoode |first1=Claire N. |last2=Begg |first2=Keith S. |last3=Begg |first3=Colleen M. |date=22 July 2016 |title=Reciprocal signaling in honeyguide-human mutualism |url=https://www.science.org/doi/10.1126/science.aaf4885 |journal=[[Science (journal)|Science]] |volume=353 |issue=6297 |pages=387–389 |doi=10.1126/science.aaf4885 |issn=0036-8075 |pmid=27463674 |publisher=[[American Association for the Advancement of Science]] |bibcode=2016Sci...353..387S |s2cid=206648494 |access-date=30 June 2022 |archive-date=22 June 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220622123816/https://www.science.org/doi/10.1126/science.aaf4885 |url-status=live }}</ref>

=== Fermentation ===
Possibly the world's oldest [[fermented beverage]], dating from 9,000 years ago,<ref>{{cite journal |last1=McGovern |first1=Patrick E. |last2=Zhang |first2=Juzhong |last3=Tang |first3=Jigen |last4=Zhang |first4=Zhiqing |last5=Hall |first5=Gretchen R. |last6=Moreau |first6=Robert A. |last7=Nuñez |first7=Alberto |last8=Butrym |first8=Eric D. |last9=Richards |first9=Michael P. |last10=Wang |first10=Chen-shan |last11=Cheng |first11=Guangsheng |last12=Zhao |first12=Zhijun |last13=Wang |first13=Changsui |display-authors=3 |title=Fermented beverages of pre- and proto-historic China |journal=Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences |date=21 December 2004 |volume=101 |issue=51 |pages=17593–17598 |doi=10.1073/pnas.0407921102 |pmid=15590771 |pmc=539767 |bibcode=2004PNAS..10117593M |doi-access=free}}</ref> [[mead]] ("honey wine") is the alcoholic product made by adding [[yeast]] to honey-water [[must]] and fermenting it for weeks or months.<ref name="jib">{{cite journal |last1=Pereira |first1=Ana Paula |last2=Mendes-Ferreira |first2=Ana |last3=Estevinho |first3=Leticia M. |last4=Mendes-Faia |first4=Arlete |title=Improvement of mead fermentation by honey-must supplementation |journal=Journal of the Institute of Brewing |date=2015 |volume=121 |issue=3 |pages=405–410 |doi=10.1002/jib.239 |hdl=10198/16120 |hdl-access=free}}</ref><ref name="mol">{{cite journal |pmid=25153872 |pmc=6271869 |year=2014 |last1=Iglesias |first1=A. |title=Developments in the fermentation process and quality improvement strategies for mead production |journal=Molecules |volume=19 |issue=8 |pages=12577–12590 |last2=Pascoal |first2=A. |last3=Choupina |first3=A. B. |last4=Carvalho |first4=C. A. |last5=Feás |first5=X. |last6=Estevinho |first6=L. M. |doi=10.3390/molecules190812577 |doi-access=free}}</ref> The yeast ''[[Saccharomyces cerevisiae]]'' is commonly used in modern mead production.<ref name=jib /><ref name=mol />

Mead varieties include drinks called [[metheglin]] (with spices or herbs), [[melomel]] (with fruit juices, such as grape, specifically called [[pyment]]), [[hippocras]] (with [[cinnamon]]), and sack mead (high concentration of honey),<ref name=mol /> many of which have been developed as commercial products numbering in the hundreds in the United States.<ref name="tierney">{{cite magazine |last=Tierney |first=John |title=Making Mead in a Space-Age World |url=https://www.theatlantic.com/business/archive/2014/10/making-mead-in-a-space-age-world/381433/ |magazine=[[The Atlantic]] |access-date=20 June 2017 |date=21 October 2014 |archive-date=28 March 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170328190429/https://www.theatlantic.com/business/archive/2014/10/making-mead-in-a-space-age-world/381433/ |url-status=live }}</ref> Honey is also used to make mead [[beer]], called "braggot".<ref>{{cite web |title=Braggot: The Best of Mead and Beer |url=https://www.homebrewersassociation.org/how-to-brew/braggot-the-best-of-mead-and-beer/ |publisher=American Home Brewers Association |access-date=19 June 2017 |date=2017 |archive-date=20 February 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180220092350/https://www.homebrewersassociation.org/how-to-brew/braggot-the-best-of-mead-and-beer/ |url-status=live }}</ref>