How is Honey made?

Honey is made by bees in one of the world’s most efficient facilities, the beehive.  The 60,000 or so bees in a beehive may collectively travel as much as 55,000 miles and visit more than two million flowers to gather enough nectar to make just a pound of honey. Honey comes in all types of colors and flavors. The color and flavor of honey depends on the how old the honey is and the kind of flower that the nectar was extracted from.

Honey bees collect pollen and nectar in the spring when most flowers and plants are in bloom. They use their long, tube like tongues like straws (called proboscis) to suck the nectar out of the flowers and they store it in their stomachs and carry it to the beehive. While inside the bee's stomach for about half an hour, the nectar mixes with the proteins and enzymes produced by the bees, converting the nectar into honey.

The bees then spread the nectar throughout the honeycombs where water evaporates from it, making it into thicker syrup. The bees make the nectar dry even faster by fanning it with their wings. Once the honey is 18% or less moisture, the bees seal off the cell of the honeycomb with a plug of wax. The honey is stored until it is eaten. In one year, a colony of bees eats between 120 and 200 pounds of honey. (Honey)

Bibliography

Honey. http://www.honey.com/honey-at-home/learn-about-honey. n.d.