{"id":342927,"date":"2025-12-14T01:18:06","date_gmt":"2025-12-14T01:18:06","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/peraltafinancing.com\/aerospace\/bees-are-turning-the-sticky-sweet-secretions-of-spotted-lanternflies-into-honey-and-some-people-love-the-smoky-smelling-stuff\/"},"modified":"2025-12-14T01:18:06","modified_gmt":"2025-12-14T01:18:06","slug":"bees-are-turning-the-sticky-sweet-secretions-of-spotted-lanternflies-into-honey-and-some-people-love-the-smoky-smelling-stuff","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/?p=342927","title":{"rendered":"Bees Are Turning the Sticky-Sweet Secretions of Spotted Lanternflies Into Honey\u2014and Some People Love the Smoky-Smelling Stuff"},"content":{"rendered":"


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The invasive insects have been spreading across the United States for over a decade, leaving behind poop that bees are transforming into a less sweet, sometimes savory, honey<\/h2>\n
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Sarah Kuta<\/a><\/p>\n

– Daily Correspondent<\/span><\/p>\n

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Spotted lanternflies have spread to nearly 20 states since 2014.
\n Caitlyn Johnstone \/ Chesapeake Bay Program via Flickr under CC BY-NC 2.0<\/a><\/span>
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Ever since they first arrived in America in 2014, invasive\u00a0spotted lanternflies<\/a>\u00a0have been making their presence known. Native to China and Southeast Asia, these speckled, brightly colored pests are wreaking havoc on trees and crops, divebombing joggers and\u00a0leaving their sticky secretions<\/a>\u2014called honeydew\u2014all over cars and lawn furniture. Government officials have implored residents to\u00a0squash the bugs<\/a>\u00a0whenever they see them.<\/p>\n

Now, yet another ripple effect of the invasion is starting to emerge: Spotted lanternflies are affecting the flavor, color and smell of honey.<\/p>\n

In recent years, beekeepers have started finding dark, reddish-brown honey with an unusual flavor and aroma in their hives. The mysterious honey only shows up in the fall. After a bit of scientific sleuthing, entomologists in Pennsylvania figured out the strange liquid was spotted lanternfly honey.<\/p>\n

Spotted lanternfly honey is still made by bees. However, it\u2019s a very different substance.<\/p>\n

Traditionally, bees make honey from nectar, the sweet, sugary substance flowering plants produce to draw in pollinators. When bees, moths, butterflies and hummingbirds slurp up the delicious stuff, they inadvertently pick up pollen and buzz it over to the next flower, allowing the plants to cross-pollinate and, ultimately, reproduce.<\/p>\n

Bees bring some of this nectar back to their hives and transform it into honey, which serves as a vital source of food during the winter months. To do so, they first store the collected nectar in a special \u201choney stomach<\/a>,\u201d where it mixes with enzymes. Back at the hive, they regurgitate<\/a> the enzyme-laden nectar and pass it along to other bees, which add even more enzymes. Eventually, they spread the nectar into the honeycomb and fan it vigorously with their wings to help it dry out, transforming the once-watery liquid into a thick, sticky prize.<\/p>\n

As it turns out, this process works just as well with honeydew, the sugary liquid spotted lanternflies excrete after eating tree sap\u2014basically, insect poop. During the late summer and fall, when nectar-rich flowers are starting to dwindle, bees are apparently taking advantage of the abundance of honeydew.<\/p>\n

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Need to know: What\u2019s the current status of spotted lanternflies in the United States?<\/h4>\n

The bugs first appeared<\/a> in Pennsylvania in 2014, likely after catching a ride via imported goods. Since then, spotted lanternflies have spread<\/a> to at least 19 states and Washington, D.C.<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/div>\n

Spotted lanternfly honey is safe to eat, with testing finding \u201cexceedingly small\u201d amounts of pesticides from lanternfly treatment efforts in it, according to\u00a0Penn State Extension<\/a>. Safety aside, the pleasure of eating it is an entirely different conversation: Some individuals can\u2019t stand spotted lanternfly honey, which is often described as having a smoky, savory aroma with a lingering aftertaste, while others find it perfectly palatable.<\/p>\n

\u201cIn unofficial taste tests, half or more of the people that try this honey think it tastes great,\u201d according to Penn State Extension.<\/p>\n

European beekeepers have long been harvesting honey made from honeydew, although, in their case, the honeydew comes from aphids and other insects, not spotted lanternflies. They tend to market it as \u201cforest honey<\/a>.\u201d<\/p>\n

Even so, American beekeepers were initially concerned, worried that lanternfly honey might damage the industry\u2019s reputation. But the unusual substance seems to be catching on. Researchers are investigating its antimicrobial properties and possible health benefits and, at least so far, American consumers seem to be intrigued.<\/p>\n

\u201cI tell myself if it\u2019s good enough for the bees, if the bees are OK with it, I have a little more faith in it,\u201d says Jan Day, president of the D.C. Beekeeper\u2019s Alliance, to the\u00a0Washington Post<\/em><\/a>\u2019s Brittany Shammas.<\/p>\n

Some beekeepers are even using the honey\u2019s unique insect poop origins to their advantage, promoting it as a bit of a novel curiosity with a noteworthy backstory. The Philadelphia Bee Company, for example, has branded its spotted lanternfly honey as \u201cDoom Bloom<\/a>\u201d\u2014and it\u2019s become a bestseller, as Amanda Loudin reported for\u00a0Offrange<\/em><\/a>\u00a0in 2024.<\/p>\n

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Meanwhile, for beekeepers who aren\u2019t so enamored with the stuff, there\u2019s some good news. Spotted lanternfly honey tends to show up in hives only in the late summer and fall, when bees are usually winding down the production of nectar honey. So, the invasive bugs aren\u2019t necessarily tainting beekeepers\u2019 normal supply but, rather, giving them a late-season boost.<\/p>\n

Bill Vondrasek, a longtime hobbyist beekeeper in Maryland, for instance, usually harvests about 300 pounds of honey per year. But recently, that annual harvest has risen to around 700 pounds.<\/p>\n

In 2023, \u201cI noticed a different kind of honey that showed up in between our normal spring and fall harvests,\u201d he told\u00a0Offrange<\/em>. \u201cI never stopped harvesting this year, when I would normally take a break over summer.\u201d<\/p>\n

And if beekeepers don\u2019t like spotted lanternfly honey, they can simply \u201charvest the honey from the hives before the spotted lantern flies get active with producing honeydew,\u201d says Medard Lutmerding, president of the Central Ohio Beekeepers Association, to\u00a0WOSU Public Media<\/a>\u2019s Allie Vugrincic. They can leave behind the spotted lanternfly honey to serve as winter food for their bees.<\/p>\n

\u201cBeekeepers in areas where lanternflies have been established for several years see that honeybees overwinter very well on this type of stored food,\u201d according to Penn State Extension.<\/p>\n

So, in light of all this extra honey, should members of the public\u00a0keep stomping on<\/a>\u00a0any spotted lanternflies they see? Beekeepers and entomologists agree\u2014yes, yes they should. The invasive bugs are still doing more harm than good.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe don\u2019t really want them, but if they\u2019re going to be there, then the bees can take advantage. That\u2019s how I see it,\u201d\u00a0Robyn Underwood<\/a>, an entomologist and educator with Penn State Extension, tells the\u00a0Post<\/em>.<\/p>\n

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