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sourceMybeeline
publishervicky
time2021/01/14
Firstly, bees need to collect resources required for making honey, and that resource is nectar. To collect nectar bees will forage within an 8 kilometers (5 miles) radius from the hive, but they will generally stay as close to the hive as possible. Foraging bees will check for water and nectar sources and communicate their location to the rest of the bees using their special ‘dance’. You can learn more about a honey bee dance here.
Flowers are bee’s source of nectar, but not all flowers are created equal. Some flowers (such as dandelion, clover, apple, blackberry, lavender, and live) attract bees more than others. Flowers give bees high protein pollen and sugary nectar, which are not only needed for honey production but also essential for young bees (larvae) to have a good start to life. Moreover, adult bees also need the energy to do their work in and around the hive.
Bees collect nectar using their long tongue (proboscis) that can slide down into the flower and suck the nectar out. The collected nectar is stored in their second stomach called honey stomach, which doesn’t digest nectar - only stores it. Here nectar is mixed with some enzymes that pull out some water out of the nectar and start the process of making honey.
What is important to note here is that honey is not bee vomit. When a bee intakes nectar, it can go through one of two valves which decide whether the nectar will be digested or just stored. This comes in handy because a bee can use stored nectar during the flight if she needs the extra energy.
When the forager bee returns to the hive, there will be a younger worker bee waiting to suck the nectar out of the honey stomach. After sucking it out she will chew it for about 30 minutes. While chewing the nectar a bee will also add enzymes that will break down the nectar further reduce the water content in it. This makes it easier to digest and less likely to get bacteria while it’s stored in the hive.
After this is complete, the syrup is deposited inside the cells of a honeycomb. The syrup is left to sit in these cells so it can thicken as the water evaporates further.
Once the water content and consistency of honey are at the right level, cells containing honey are capped with beeswax to preserve it.
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