The divine spirit of bees. A note on honey and the origins of yeast-driven fermentation

One of the earliest domesticated organisms is perhaps the eukaryote microorganism known as Saccharomyces cerevisiae, or more simply “the yeast”. Its decisive role in triggering fermentation as a process useful for agricultural products preservation and transformation into consumable food, though known from the Palaeolithic in the ancient Near East, became decisive in the Neolithic Period. The earliest agriculturalists of the Fertile Crescent accidentally triggered fermentation with the addition of honey to fruits juices, as attested to in the archaeological record. The yeast, that lives inside the guts of bees and wasps, is responsible for this fermentation process. Honey contains both yeast and sugar that facilitates its growth generating fermentation. The creative capability of the bees let these insects to be credited of a divine skill.