Final answer:
Honey consists mainly of monosaccharides because the disaccharide sucrose found in nectar is hydrolyzed by bee enzymes into glucose and fructose, which are its constituent monosaccharides. This process occurs before honey is stored and is what makes honey a readily available energy source.
Step-by-step explanation:
Honey mostly consists of monosaccharides because the disaccharide sucrose, which is commonly found in nectar, is broken down into its constituent monosaccharides through the process of hydrolysis. When bees collect nectar containing sucrose, enzymes in the bee's honey stomach, such as invertase, catalyze the hydrolysis of sucrose into fructose and glucose. Since fructose is the sweetest monosaccharide, and glucose is also a very common monosaccharide, these two sugars comprise the majority of honey's composition, contributing to its sweetness which is comparable to that of sucrose (table sugar). Furthermore, disaccharides such as sucrose, lactose, and maltose are not used by the body directly; they are split into monosaccharides by hydrolysis during digestion. In the case of honey production, the bee's enzymes break down sucrose into glucose and fructose before the honey is stored, making honey ready-to-use energy for bees and a quick source of sugar for humans.