How Bees Make Honey–Step-by-Step Let’s Talk Trash! ©2016 The Keenan Group, Inc
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The Flower that a honey bee visits must contain nectar, otherwise it will move on. Nectar is like sugar water, and this is what bees like–yummers! They suck it up using their tongue which is hollow like a straw–it’s proper name is a proboscis. Now the nectar is inside the bee’s tummy, and its little body then turns the sugar part of nectar (called sucrose) into different kinds of sugar (glucose and fructose). Some of the glucose then gets turned into an acid. By turning some of the nectar into acid, any bacteria is killed so it doesn’t get into the honey. This is why honey can last for years and years. The bee then moves this watery honey mix from its tummy, into its mouth, and then into the honeycombs of the hive. But this new nectar mix is still quite watery, so the clever bees get rid of most of the water by fanning the mix with their wings. The mixture is now thicker and resembles what we know as honey.
Different Types of Honey Honey can taste different depending on what flowers the bees have been feasting on. For example, if beekeepers keep their hives close to heather for the bees to enjoy, the honey these bees produce will be much stronger in taste. Different flowers give different flavours. All honey starts off as being clear and runny, however, over time, some honey can set and become thicker and grainy–this is called set honey. It’s easy to get it back to being runny though, just heat
To protect their honey, the bees will seal the honeycombs with wax. Those Clever Bees So, how do bees make so much honey? Well, once they find a good patch of flowers that they like, they go back to the hive and do a bee dance to point other bees in the direction of the tasty nectar. In its whole life, a single bee only produces about one and a half teaspoons of honey, but they live in really big groups, which means they can make a lot of honey when they work together.
for a short time in the microwave, or put the jar into a bowl of warm water. For cooking, it’s often
easier if the honey you use is runny. Source: http://miniyummers.com/how-do-bees-make- honey-for-kids/
BEE Facts:
There are three types of bees in the hive: Queen, Worker and Drone 4 The queen may lay 600-800 or even 1,500 eggs each day during her 3 or 4 year lifetime. This daily egg production may equal her own weight. She is constantly fed and groomed by attendant worker bees. 4 Honeybees fly at 15 miles per hour. 4 Honeybees’ wings stroke 11,400 times per minute, thus making their distinctive buzz. 4 Honeybees are the only insect that produce food for humans.
4 Honeybees will usually travel approximately 3 miles from their hive. 4 Honeybees are the only bees that die after they sting. 4 Honeybees are responsible for pollinating approx 80% of all fruit, vegetable and seed crops in the U.S. 4 Honeybees have five eyes, 3 small ones on top of the head and two big ones in front. They also have hair on their eyes! 4 Bees communicate with each other by dancing and by using pheromones (scents). 4 Honeybees never sleep!
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