Unexpected Food Gifts

[liuzhou]

7 hours ago, Shelby said:

 

The same man keeps bees and has given us some delicious honey. 

 

Do, the bees harvest the figs for nectar? My friend who recently sent me lychees from the family lychee farm also sends me lychee honey which I like a lot. Never seen fig honey, though.

[blue_dolphin]

11 minutes ago, liuzhou said:

 

Do, the bees harvest the figs for nectar? My friend who recently sent me lychees from the family lychee farm also sends me lychee honey which I like a lot. Never seen fig honey, though.

I’ve never seen fig honey either. Maybe the figs are sweet enough as is. Or because figs are generally pollinated by wasps so the bees take their business elsewhere. 

[liuzhou]

5 minutes ago, blue_dolphin said:

I’ve never seen fig honey either. Maybe the figs are sweet enough as is. Or because figs are generally pollinated by wasps so the bees take their business elsewhere. 

 

Digging around has revealed that there is something called "fig honey", but it isn't honey at all and not made by bees, but people. It's a syrup made from figs.

 

How to Make Fig Honey

[haresfur]

1 hour ago, liuzhou said:

 

Do, the bees harvest the figs for nectar? My friend who recently sent me lychees from the family lychee farm also sends me lychee honey which I like a lot. Never seen fig honey, though.

 

The "flower" part of figs is internal to the fruit and are pollinated by wasps that burrow into the centre. So bees can't make honey from them. However, fig trees can produce fruit parthenocarpically, without pollination.

Edited 3 hours ago by haresfur
typo (log)

[liuzhou]

I'm clearly fig ignorant. The only figs we get here are dried. I've never bought them. They're usually used in Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM).

 

 

[liuzhou]

Duh! It gets worse! I'm an idiot. The Chinese for 'fig' is 无花果 (wú huā guǒ) which literally means 'no flower fruit'. 

 

Reminder to self: Don't post before your second coffee of the morning.