“Some Evidence of Bees and Honey in Ancient Egypt”, 1975 (; backlinks):
…While preparing this article, I was shown a letter written by the late Arthur E. Weigall, one-time Inspector-General of Antiquities to the Egyptian Government, to members of his family in England, describing his impressions during the opening of the tomb of Yusa and Thuiu…In the Appendix, 1962 [Ancient Egyptian materials and industries] gives particulars of more than 12 chemical and analytical tests he applied to the sample. In his conclusion, he states: “From the results obtained there can be little doubt that the sample is Castor Oil that has become very acid and has undergone other changes on keeping.”
It seems to be accepted as a fact that many samples of honey have been recovered from ancient Egyptian tombs ever since the pyramid age, but apart from one sample of honeycomb examined by 1941 [Beiträge zur Herkunftsbestimmung bei Honig. III. Pollengestaltung und Herkunftsbestimmung bei Bienenhonig], authentication by pollen analysis is lacking.
In pursuit of my botanical researches, I recently approached various world museums and archaeological institutes, asking for samples of honey or honeycomb. So far 3 samples have been received, and a pollen investigation carried out at the British Museum (Natural History). The report received on the samples is as follows:
Dissolved in ether, therefore a wax, but as it contained only one or two grains of pollen, it could not have been a part of honeycomb.
A black sticky liquid taken from an Eighteenth Dynasty vase, no pollen grains whatsoever, consequently not honey.
Did not dissolve in water (so it was not sugar). Did not dissolve in ether (so it was not beeswax). It did contain however a very few grains of pollen from the date palm (Phoenix dactylifera L.) and of lotus (Nymphaea lotus L.). But as the count was so low the specimen could not have been honeycomb.
These reports indicate that judgment should be reserved on samples thought to be ancient honey or honeycomb until a pollen investigation has been made. The same reservations do not arise with beeswax, since its use, in a wide variety of ways, has been verified.
[Both The World History of Beekeeping and Honey Hunting, 1999; and The Tears of Re, 2015, concur with 1975: no edible (much less liquid) honey has ever been found in Egyptian tombs. Further search turns up no validated honey findings anywhere, and many skeptical comments.]