What is honey?
Nothing is left to chance; there is an actual EC directive (2001/110/EC), later implemented by Legislative Decree No. 179 of May 21, 2004, that explains it to us. Basically, it tells us that honey is a sweet, natural substance produced by honey bees (Apis mellifera) from the nectar of plants or secretions of plants or secretions of insects that feed on living parts of plants. What is collected by the bees is processed by them, stored and left to mature in the honeycombs of the hive. The legal language is always a bit difficult to understand, but here it gives us important information about both the centrality of the bee's role in honey production and the origin of honey.