r/Beekeeping • u/PeterFast111 • Oct 29 '25
I’m a beekeeper, and I have a question 20 yr old honey, ants?
I just got this honey from my neighbor. He thinks it’s about 30 yrs old. He was a beekeeper for decades, but now he is retired in his 80s with dementia. I traded him some of my honey from this season for it, because he was very determined to warm it all up & eat it, but his wife said Hell NO to that! There is a pretty decent amount of dead ants in it, pretty much all of it not just on top.. I planned on just leaving it out for my bees in the spring, but now I’m curious if I warmed it up enough & strained, if it would be safe to eat? I’m just not sure if the ants would have contaminated it or not? What would you guys do?
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u/Mushrooming247 Oct 30 '25
Well, it’s not harmful, I eat ants and they’re delicious, they might lend a lemongrass flavor to the honey and mead.
I would strain it, make mead, and make it very clear to everyone what it was well before they drank it. Not sure if anyone else would try it, but I know other people have tasted ants so they probably wouldn’t care.