By Kathy Keatley Garvey
This is not something you see every day.
When Lynn Kimsey, director of the UC Davis Bohart Museum of Entomology and UC Davis distinguished professor of entomology, Department of Entomology and Nematology, recently traveled to San Luis Obispo, she saw a honey bee "licking a baby acorn" on an oak tree.
Why was the bee licking a baby acorn?
In her investigation, Kimsey discovered why.
"Apparently the acorn weevil larvae developing in the acorns secrete some kind of sugars--sweet pee if you must. I didn't realize this but apparently acorn honey is a big deal in Eurasia and beekeepers will intentionally move their colonies under oaks for this reason. Weevil pee honey… weird."
"Humans definitely collect the honey from the bees," Kimsey related. "The amount of sweetness from the acorns is way too little for us to do anything with directly."
If you look on YouTube for oak honey, you'll find a product from northern Greece described as "rich, thick, chocolatey, and packed with minerals, enzymes, propolis and goodness; lower glycemic index than most honeys therefore suitable for people wishing to consume a low sugar honey."
Source : ucanr.edu