substances that they produce themselves and then store it and let it mature in the beehive's honeycombs".

Animal or vegetable food?

Honey has a double nature. It is animal because of the bees, who collect nectar from flowers drop after drop, then transform it through a minute and patient process. But the starting raw material is nectar, which has a vegetable origin and is the most important substance in giving honey its peculiarities. Honey owes its nature to the plants, namely the flowers, from which the bees collected the nectar. Different plants give different nectars and this is why there is such a wide variety of products.
Another starting material for honey is honeydew. Honeydew is the plant's own lymph, which is eaten by insects such as plant-lice and cochineal. The sugary substance in excess is collected by bees.