I found (and tried) Hebo!

[GaijinGirl]

Yes, I have now tried baby honey bee in sweet soy sauce. And it wasn't bad. It's at Chikubu on 44th (they seem very nice, authentic and stylish - I'm impressed at first glance.) The dish was expensive, and very small - but I'm glad to have tried it. I got about 30 in a small cup, and they tasted like cooked chickpea with a sweet honey glaze. If you look REAL close, you can see the legs, but otherwise they weren't recognizable. Now, where the heck is that Inago...?

--Janet (GG)

Note (two hours later) - slight warning - I have *actually* come down with a bit of an allergic reaction to the hebo - which I suppose is not surprising. So - if you're at all allergic, be careful. (Here's to hoping the sudafed does its job.)

Edited June 3, 2005 by GaijinGirl (log)

[Pan]

(Stupid question alert:) So, they remove the stingers?

Do I gather correctly that you're glad you tried it but aren't in a rush to try it again?

[GaijinGirl]

(Actually, more like stupid GG alert for not thinking of the possible implications of eating bees - not that I'm overly allergic to them.)

They must remove the stingers - also, they were baby bees, so maybe they don't have them yet? I didn't chew on anything that felt like a stinger.

BUT - as my husband pointed out last night - the venom sacs are probably in the body itself, and they probably don't remove that.

But yes, I'm happy to have tried them. They tasted just fine, but both because of the allergic reaction and the cost (and that they weren't AMAZING) - one time is enough.

--Janet (GG)

[Pan]

I was going to ask how much they cost, but amazingly enough, they are listed on Chikubu's menu on menupages, so they're apparently a regular dish, not a special.

[GaijinGirl]

I have to say - the staff at Chikubu is very nice, gracious and stylish, the experience has me wanting to try them for a more normal dish, like sushi...

[Luckylies]

honeybees dont have stingers.

[Pan]

Actually they do, but not all types do:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Honeybee

Honeybees will sting when they perceive the hive to be threatened.[...]It injects apitoxin through the stinger.[...]

The larger drone bees have no stingers at all.[...]

I've seen a lot of honeybees up close, and the ones I've seen flying around definitely have stingers, including the 3-inch-long Malaysian jungle bees, which seemed to me like nothing other than big, clumsy honeybees and docile to boot. Bees have to really perceive a threat to sting, as except for the queen, they can only sting once and the action kills them.