How Is Honey Sourced? The True Wonder of Nature
How Is Honey Sourced? The True Wonder of Nature
Bees are hardworking creatures. The tiny, but mighty insect works tirelessly around the season. Each bee has a role to play. They all have specific jobs.
Foraging bees are the ones to collect nectar from flowers. Their job is to collect it and drop it to the hive.
But why do bees make honey? Bees feed on nectar and pollen. They become scarce in the colder months when it’s difficult for the bees to survive outside the hive. So, to support their hive’s food requirements, they collect as much nectar as possible.
This nectar is turned into honey by the bees because the collected nectar would not last for longer periods.
Honey-making is crucial for the survival of bees in the harsh winter months.
So, if bees make honey for themselves, how do we avail of it? Because most of the time bees make so much honey that they have a surplus amount of it. This surplus is extracted for our use without depriving the bees of their food source.
Steps in Honey Making
There are a few steps of honey-making.
- Collecting nectar
- Dropping nectar to the hive
- Processing nectar in the hive to make honey
- Drying the honey
- Storing the honey
After these processes are completed, beekeepers harvest excess honey for commercial use.
Collecting Nectar
The foraging bees are female worker bees. They have the job of collecting nectar. They leave the hive only in warmer months.
When she comes across flowers producing nectar, she collects it using proboscis. Proboscis is a specialized tube-like part that the bees use to suck nectar. Once she collects the nectar, she deposits it in her honey stomach. This stomach is different from the one they use to digest food.
The flavor, color, and type of honey depend on the flower that the nectar is collected from.
As the nectar passes to the honey stomach, special glands produce enzymes and proteins that are added to it.
The main enzyme transforms the sucrose in the nectar into sugar, glucose, and fructose.
Dropping Nectar to the Hive
The field bees drop the nectar at the hive and go back to foraging it again.
Processing Nectar in the Hive To Make Honey
The next step in making honey happens at the hive. The field bees pass their nectar to the house bees. These bees work to evaporate the moisture out of nectar. As they do that, more essential enzymes are added to the nectar. With the nectar passing through each bee, the amount of enzymes increases.
These enzymes break down the sugar and protein in the nectar, turning it into a kind of watery honey. Even now, the honey has moisture and is wet enough to store it. It has to be dried further.
Drying the Honey
Honey has to undergo a dehydration process. The bees spread the honey across the wax comb – the honeycomb. This allows the honey more surface area to dry.
The bees then begin to fan their wings to create extra airflow to dry the honey. This allows a quicker dehydration process. They continue doing this until the honey reaches the sticky state.
Storing the Honey
The sticky honey is stored in the honeycomb. These cells are sealed with beeswax. This protects the honey from impurities by keeping it clean. It also protects the honey from developing any moisture.
Harvesting and Extraction of Honey
Beekeepers remove honey-filled frames from the beehive. They are taken to a processing facility. The honey is then extracted and filtered to remove impurities. However, it’s not considerably processed.
This honey is packaged and distributed for consumption.
Some people also prefer to buy raw honey straight from the beehive.
Conclusion The intense honey-making process makes one wonder about the magical nature of the bees. The systematic way their process works, their industrious nature, and their ability to make honey and produce royal jelly – the two most beneficial substances, can only make one marvel at their existence.
