Researchers at a lab in the San Francisco Bay Area are working on one of the next challenges: how to make honey that’s identical to the traditional product but doesn’t require the work of any honeybees. “There are 20,000 other bee species that are wild and native species,” says Darko Mandich, CEO of the Berkeley, California-based startup. “And those species are jeopardized with current honey production, which completely relies on commercial beekeeping.” While the plight of honeybees and colony collapse has gotten more attention, native bees are more at risk, in part because honeybees compete for their food. The more honey production increases, the more the pressure grows. The startup plans to focus on sales to other businesses—from food companies to those that use honey in soap or shampoo—with an initial product coming to market next year.