Changes

In the 19th and 20th century, artificial honey and new forms of beehives were created to make production more suitable for mass markets. While artificial hives have been known since the 3rd millennium BCE, modern frame hives found in beehives kept by modern beekeepers were invented in 1814. The idea was to make it easier to separate bees from the hives to more easily collect honey.Previously, smoke was used to drive bees away and then break artificial or natural hives, where the honey was then collected. Eventually in 1852, the Langstroth hive was invented, which has now become the modern way in which most natural honey is collected. This type of beehive developed from another form of frame developed by Johann Dzierzon. This innovation made us of the so-called "bee space," which was observed distance between each comb that was large enough to keep a comb from sticking together. Such innovations also made beekeeping less destructive, as many other methods often destroyed not only the hive but killed many of the bees, often making the process of honey production unsustainable for beekeepers.<ref>For more on the development of artificial beehives and modern development of them, see: Showler, K. (2011). <i>Essays in beekeeping history.</i> Warwickshire, England: BeeCraft.</ref>

The taste of honey can be refined based on the types of flowers bees useduse. Australia probably has some of the most unique honey in the world due to the continent having many types of flowers that are unique to it. Artificial honey has also become well established, which was already occurring in ancient periods where flour was often added to create a form of artificial honey. This has led to a variety of grades and quality standards being created today by different countries. In the United States, grades A-C are used to reflect the quality of honey products. Floral sources of honey are also used for classification, including how many different flowers bees used to create honey. After a period of decline in honey consumption in the 20th century, as sugar increasingly replaced honey as a sweetener, honey has more recently reemerged as a product of greater interest and desire by consumers. Honey has once again reemerged as a news item as honeybees have begun to decline in various parts of the world, where the scientific community does not have one clear answer for this decline. While this decline threatens modern agriculture, it has also affected natural production of honey, where the price of honey has rapidly increased over the last decade.<ref>For more on recent events surrounding the honeybee, see: Sammataro, D., & Yoder, J. (Eds.). (2012). <i>Honey bee colony health: challenges and sustainable solutions.</i> Boca Raton, FL: CRC Press.</ref>