describes the water content of honeydew as around 89%. Whether it is feeding on nectar or honeydew, the bee sucks these runny fluids through its proboscis, which delivers the liquid to the bee's honey stomach or "honey crop". This cavity lies just above its food stomach, the latter of which digests pollen and sugars consumed by an individual honey bee for its own nourishment.

In Apis mellifera, the honey stomach holds about 40 mg of liquid. This is about