Honey (Civ6)/Civilopedia

Honey is a natural sweetener made from flower nectar by bees stored in a hive for larvae to eat – it is literally insect regurgitate. But it is also one of the oldest delicacies in human history; a rock painting in Valencia, Spain, shows a person taking honey from a wild beehive. To harvest honey, nearly every society has the same technique: beekeepers – or bee-hunters – make the insects drowsy by filling the hive with smoke, allowing for the taking of the honeycomb without suffering the bees’ painful stings. Honey has a wide variety of uses; while we most often associate honey as a sweetener, it also has powerful antimicrobial properties and has been used as a treatment for wounds and burns. Additionally, the oldest alcoholic beverage, mead, is made from honey, and this “honey-wine” is referenced in Greek, Indian, Chinese, and Norse myths.