Bees are making dark, smoky honey out of spotted lanternfly poop

Spotted lanternfly honey on display at Easton Public Market

Spotted Lanternfly Hot Honey by Pocono Apiaries is on display at Easton Public Market on Jan. 18, 2023. During times when nectar is scare, honeybees turn to other sources like the sweet excrement of invasive lanternflies, which becomes a dark, smoky honey that is developing a niche market. This one is also infused with chilis.Steve Novak | For lehighvalleylive.com

Spotted lanternflies, while invasive and dangerous to trees and agriculture, can still serve a purpose.

Honeybees have figured that out. In late summer when nectar is scarce, they are finding a suitable replacement in the sweet, sugary excrement of adult lanternflies, which the bees bring back to the hive.

The result is a dark, smoky honey. Some find it gross. Others see “lanternfly honey” as a niche market with potential.

“People really want the weird stuff,” said Erik Diemer, co-owner of Pocono Apiaries, which markets a Spotted Lanternfly Hot Honey infused with chilis.

The bottle with a label that shows a lanternfly and flames is sold in a handful of spots in the Lehigh Valley and Poconos. Diemer said it’s been hard to keep it on the shelves.

No one seems to know how many other beekeepers may be trying to market similar products, though there are at least a few. Experts agree it is a regional oddity pioneered in eastern Pennsylvania that will likely spread as lanternflies do.

All of this, naturally, raises some questions.

What does lanternfly honey taste like?

This is absolutely not grocery store honey. It has a deep amber or brown color and smoky aroma, not as sweet a taste and lingering aftertaste.

“I can’t just bottle lanternfly honey and sell it as regular honey because people will think this tastes like it has been set on fire,” Diemer said. He suggests using Pocono Apiaries’ Spotted Lanternfly Hot Honey on pizza, wings, cornbread, barbeques or, his personal favorite, in a warming winter tea.

Not everyone is a fan.

“To me, it smells smoky, is a bit bitter, and has a bad aftertaste. Some people really love it!” said Robyn Underwood, an apiculture expert with PennState Extension who in 2019 fielded calls from beekeepers baffled by the strange, unexpected honey.

Is it really made from lanternfly poop?

All indications are: Yes.

Bees’ honey changes from season to season based on what plants and nectar sources are available. When beekeepers began finding strange stuff in the fall, the unusual honey was analyzed and is believed to come from a sugary lanternfly excretion called “honeydew.”

Diemer said he notices it in late summer, when plants naturally produce less nectar and bees look for whatever sweets they can find, like your picnic. But that’s also the time that adult spotted lanternflies emerge and start feasting on tree sap and grape vines, leaving their “honeydew” all over the place. And this type of honey only seems to happen in places with spotted lanternflies.

Spotted lanternflies

Spotted lanternflies on a tree in Basking Ridge, New Jersey. The invasive species has spread from Pennsylvania to 13 other states.Patti Sapone | NJ Advance Media

“The time of year that it is produced by bees, the locations where it is found, and the correlation with lanternfly populations all point to them being the source,” said Underwood, whose own bees produce the stuff in Berks County, which was “ground zero for the spotted lanternfly invasion.”

As for what it is about the honeydew that makes the dark color or smoky flavor, Underwood is still searching for answers.

It sounds gross.

Not really a question, but yes, it does. However, eating honey of any kind requires, to some degree, putting aside knowledge of where it comes from.

Basically, bees eat nectar (“the semen of the plants,” as Diemer bluntly put it) then puke it back up and seal it in the honeycomb with a secretion of their own. In this case, the nectar is replaced with lanternfly excrement. It subverts the expectations of grocery store honey, which Diemer said is itself a misrepresentation of natural honey, which can come out a little different every time.

“Some people were a little grossed out,” Diemer said of reactions to the lanternfly honey. “Those people don’t know what honey is to start with. Honey itself is a gross product.”

Spotted lanternfly nymphs

A cluster of late-stage spotted lanternfly nymphs gather on a grapevine branch in New Brunswick, New Jersey. Lanternflies suck the sap from trees and vines.Patti Sapone | NJ Advance Media

Is it safe?

Yes. Testing shows that pesticides used in lanternfly control are rarely found in the honey, or at “exceedingly low levels,” Underwood said.

Who sells this stuff?

No one seems to keep track of who is marketing lanternfly honey, but there are at least a few that we could find. In a PennState Extension article last fall, Underwood said that bakeries are using this kind of honey and that “clever marketing can make this a popular novelty.”

Philadelphia Bee Co. sells DoomBloom, which appears to be Pennsylvania’s original.

Diemer said Pocono Apiaries’ Spotted Lanternfly Hot Honey is sold — when available — at Easton Public Market, Pocono Soap in Stroudsburg, Apple Ridge Farms in Kunkletown, and Fourth Street Bistro in Mount Pocono.

Underwood, despite not having a taste for it herself, said she sells hers at PennState Creamery.

Others may be exploring the option. The American Honey Tasting Society said it will review some reports of “dark honey” with the University of Pittsburgh in the next few months.

Even those beekeepers who don’t market the honey can save money by letting their bees subsist on it over winters.

Spotted lanternflies

Spotted lanternflies climb a vine in Bethlehem. Honeybees can use lanternflies' sweet "honeydew" excretion to make a unique honey.Timothy Kovach | lehighvalleylive.com file photo

Should we still squish spotted lanternflies?

Yes. One surprising use does not absolve the invasive species of its sins.

Spotted lanternflies have spread from Pennsylvania to at least 13 other states and threaten industries including grapes, orchards and logging, according to the U.S. Department of Agriculture. But it’s still interesting that nature has found a way of using an unexpected resource in sweet, sweet lanternfly poop.

“Some beekeepers are trying to turn a bad situation into a good one,” said Mike Bodamer, with the Lehigh Valley Beekeeper Association. “Ideally I believe beekeepers would rather purge the problem, but it looks like they are here to stay.”

Our journalism needs your support. Please subscribe today to lehighvalleylive.com.

Steve Novak may be reached at snovak@lehighvalleylive.com.

If you purchase a product or register for an account through a link on our site, we may receive compensation. By using this site, you consent to our User Agreement and agree that your clicks, interactions, and personal information may be collected, recorded, and/or stored by us and social media and other third-party partners in accordance with our Privacy Policy.