Wow ! Ants Are Not Attracted To Pure Honey but as The Honey gets Contaminated Eventually They will Come ! Amazing

Honey has an amazing shelf life, there are reports of jars of honey found in ancient Egyptian tombs still in edible condition. With it’s low water content(about 18%) and it’s high acidity it creates an unfavorable environment for bacterial growth.

All honey eventually will attract ants.

If ants try to eat the sticky pure honey, ants will be stuck. So, at first the ants will not be attracted by pure honey, but as honey tends to absorb moisture from the air making the outer layer of the pure honey to be diluted, then ants will be attracted to the pure honey eventually.

Ants are attracted to moisture (food with moisture). Pure honey or manuka honey has less than 20% moisture and would not attract ants. However, as honey is exposed to the environment, it naturally draws moisture from the air to the outer layer of the honey, this will attract ants.

so different honey will start attracting ants at different stages. and different brands too, depending on how much moisture is in that authentic honey.

honey is a food that ants do eat in the wild.

It is true that fake honey or sugary syrup attracts ants immediately than honey, so it can be a rough gauge of purity test. Roughly because eventually honey will get more and more moisture

PS: this is why honey can be a great skin care. Applying it to the face draws moisture to the skin and hydrates it.

The Water Test to Spot Fake Honey-Here’s how to do the water test: Fill a glass with water, Add one tablespoon of honey into the glass, Adulterated or artificial honey will dissolve in water and you will see it around the glass, Pure honey on the other hand will settle right at the bottom of your glass. Drop honey on blotting paper or a paper towel–If honey has been diluted with water, it may be absorbed or leave a wet mark on an absorbent material such as blotting paper. Pure honey should not be absorbed, but unfortunately, neither will honey diluted with most sugar syrups. There are also other ways to test for honey purity but they have raised debates. One major test that is controversial is the “ant test”. A group of individuals argues that ants are attracted to fake honey due to its sugar content but not attracted to pure honey due to a component that is a natural pest repellent. Not a lot of information exists to support this test and in addition, there is no known reason why the little creatures (ants) would favor processed sugar over real honey not forgetting the ants may not always be “available” at all places for a honey assessment.

In order to check the purity of honey at home, here’s what to do: Thumb Test

Here’s the procedure to do a thumb test:

Put a small drop of the honey you have on your thumb

Check to see if it spills or spreads around

If it does, it is not pure

Pure honey will stay intact on your thumb.

One more:

The Water Test to Spot Fake Honey

Here’s how to do the water test:

Fill a glass with water

Add one tablespoon of honey into the glass

Adulterated or artificial honey will dissolve in water and you will see it around the glass

Pure honey on the other hand will settle right at the bottom of your glass.