Loved by bees, bears, and humans alike, honey is a sweet and rich treat that tastes great in tea, on pancakes, or even mixed with whipped cream, and this ingredient also has nutritional benefits and medical uses, acting as a cough suppressant or burn salve. Surprisingly, honey can even be used as a food preservative.

Honey acts as a preservative due to its sugar content, which expels water from foods using osmosis, eliminating any microbes or bacteria that are present and drying the food out. Although honey isn’t suited for preserving a wide array of foods, it works well for fruit, keeping it fresh and giving it an extra-sweet taste.

For short-term preservation, refrigerate a jar of honey with your fruit of choice inside for a couple of weeks; for a long-term solution, transform your honey into a syrup by boiling it with sugar and water, before canning the fruit. Different kinds of honey can have different pH levels, so match your fruit to the desired level of acidity in the syrup.