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Honey is bee feces.
the verdict
INSUFFICIENT LEANING
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0 sources for · 9 against
Is it true that honey is bee feces?
Unclear. Several peer-reviewed bee studies and a reference list treat honey bee feces as a distinct excretory material sampled separately from honey, which runs counter to the claim that honey is bee feces, but none directly analyzes honey's composition to settle the question.
Verdict: PARTIAL LEAN · 0 sources for, 9 against · Last checked
Evidence against · 9
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List of diseases of the honey bee. (n.d.). en.wikipedia.org. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_diseases_of_the_honey_bee
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More against · 8
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Feldlaufer, M. & Harrison, D. (2020). Neutral sterols in honey bee (Apis mellifera) feces. doi.org. https://doi.org/10.1080/00218839.2020.1753917
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Chhun, A., Moriano-Gutierrez, S., Zoppi, F., Cabirol, A., Engel, P., & Schaerli, Y. (2023). Engineering a symbiont as a biosensor for the honey bee gut environment. doi.org. https://doi.org/10.1101/2023.02.02.526826
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LA, H., PW, V., JS, P., MM, G., & SE, H. (2026). A non-invasive method for profiling the gut microbiome and virome of honey bee queens.. doi.org. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-025-32053-3
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An engineered bacterial symbiont allows noninvasive biosensing of the honey bee gut environment. (2024). hal.science. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pbio.3002523
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A non-destructive approach to assess the gut microbiome of honey bee (Apis mellifera) queens using fecal samples. (2025). hal.science. https://doi.org/10.1007/s13592-025-01212-w
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You, E., Moon, K., Kim, H., & Kim, Y. H. (2023). Detection of deformed wing virus in the greenhouse for possible horizontal transmission of virus in honey bee colony. doi.org. https://doi.org/10.1111/1748-5967.12686
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CA, S., M, S., M, T., G, S., K, D., RGT, L., A, H., R, R., & SC, W. (2026). Intergenerational and Biochemical Responses of the Western Honey Bee (<i>Apis mellifera</i>) to Sublethal Perfluorooctanesulfonate (PFOS) Exposures.. doi.org. https://doi.org/10.1021/acs.est.5c08902
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Zhang, Y., Su, M., Wang, L., Huang, S., Su, S., & Huang, W. (2021). Vairimorpha ( Nosema ) ceranae Infection Alters Honey Bee Microbiota Composition and Sustains the Survival of Adult Honey Bees. doi.org. https://doi.org/10.3390/biology10090905
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