Hive Harmony: From Nectar to Gold

For us, honey is a rich, sticky sweetener or a delicious topping to breakfast waffles. But, to the bees who make it, it’s an insurance policy - a way of preserving food supply for extended periods of time in case there aren’t enough flowers in bloom. So how exactly is this household staple made?

Derived from the nectar in blooming flowers, honey is formed through a simplistic yet intricate process. Different types of flowers will contain diverse nectars which results in the disparate varieties and colors of honey available. Forager bees (also known as female worker bees) are responsible for traveling from flower to flower, collecting nectar with their long, sugary tongues. Once they bring back sufficient nectar, these bees are also responsible for building the hive and protecting their queen bee. The queen’s singular purpose is to breed and produce eggs, and it’s estimated that one queen bee produces over a million eggs in her lifetime. 

Once absorbed by the forager bees, the nectar is stored in a special stomach called the ‘crop’ or the ‘honey stomach’, which is entirely separate from their digestive stomach used to consume food. This keeps the honey safe for the journey back to the hive, where it will be regurgitated from one bee into the mouth of another. Now, the nectar is in a processor bee, who adds in an enzyme called invertase. Invertase converts the sucrose in the nectar into glucose and fructose, simple sugars that are less perishable and less likely to spoil during long term storage. 

After a little time, once the honey has reached its appropriate consistency and concentration, the bees work together to seal the honeycombs with beeswax. This means the honey is now locked up for safekeeping, well protected from contamination.

Later, beekeepers come to collect the honey, straining any remaining wax and processing it till it reaches your breakfast table. Fortunately, bees always produce large amounts of excess honey - far more than the colony needs - and thus, the beekeepers are actually needed to harvest the excess.

By Asha