Honey's Eternal Shelf Life, Explained

People have found honey useful for thousands of years. In fact, modern beekeeping was born from our long-held desire to harvest massive quantities of it. Cave paintings in Spain dated to 8,000 years ago depict humans gathering honey from wild honey bee colonies; the fact that they collected it without the protection offered by beekeeping suits goes to show just how irresistible honey was, even in antiquity. But what exactly is this sweet, golden liquid — and how do bees make it?