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Honey is a sweet and delicious substance that humans have been enjoying for thousands of years. Bees are amazing creatures that can produce honey. But how do they do it? It’s easier said than done. In fact, It involves a lot of hard teamwork and chemistry. I will show you how nectar turns into honey through the actions of bees.
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To produce honey, the initial step is to collect the nectar from flowers. Nectar is a sugary liquid that flowers have to attract pollinators such as bees. Using their proboscis, which is like a long tongue bees draw out the nectar from the flower and keep it in a special stomach known as the honey stomach or crop. A bee can carry up to half its body weight in nectar and may need to visit over 1000 flowers before its honey stomach is full.
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The bee gathers nectar in its honey stomach and heads back to the hive to give it to other bees. The bee brings up the nectar from its honey stomach and transfers it to another bee by mouth. This process is repeated several times until the nectar reaches the worker bees who are responsible for storing and processing it.
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The worker bees take the nectar and place it into empty wax cells in the honeycomb. The nectar is still very watery and contains about 70-80% water. To convert nectar into honey. The bees need to extract water and enrich sugar. They do this by adding enzymes from their saliva and by fanning their wings to create air circulation and evaporation. The enzymes break down the complex sugar sucrose into simpler sugars glucose and fructose. Which are more stable and less prone to spoilage. The enzymes also raise the acidity of the nectar. Which helps kill bacteria and other microorganisms. When the water content drops to about 18-20% the nectar becomes honey.
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The final step in making honey is sealing it with wax. The worker bees use their glands to secrete wax flakes, which they chew and mold into caps for the honey cells. This prevents moisture from re-entering the honey and keeps it fresh and safe for consumption. The bees will use this honey as their food source during winter or times of scarcity.
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Bees make honey for their own survival. Not for humans. For millennia, Humans have been taking honey from bees. As long as they spare enough for the bees to live. A bee colony can usually produce about 60-100 pounds (27-45 kg) of honey per year, But this changes depending on factors such as the temperature, flower supply, the colony’s size and health and the beekeeper’s methods. It takes about 12 bees their entire life to make a teaspoon of honey. So we should appreciate their hard work and enjoy their sweet gift responsibly.
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