Honey begins as flower nectar β the sweet liquid plants produce in their flowers to attract pollinators. A forager bee visits up to 1,500 flowers to collect enough nectar to fill its honey stomach (a second stomach, separate from its digestive one). A full honey stomach holds about 40mg of nectar β about 80% of the bee's own body weight.
Making honey is a bit like a relay race combined with a sophisticated drying process. The first bee collects the nectar (the starting gun). Back at the hive, it passes the nectar to a "processor" bee via their mouths β the processor chews and enzymes start breaking down the sugars. Then it passes to another bee, and another. All this chewing introduces enzymes and starts reducing the water content. Finally, the nectar is deposited in a cell in the honeycomb, where house bees fan it with their wings until enough water evaporates. What's left β thick, stable, enzyme-rich, low-water β is honey.
What do the enzymes do?
Bees add enzymes from their own bodies β particularly invertase, which breaks sucrose (the main sugar in nectar) into glucose and fructose. This is important because glucose and fructose don't crystallise as easily and have better preservative properties. Another enzyme produces gluconic acid and hydrogen peroxide, making honey mildly acidic and naturally antimicrobial. This is why honey kept in the right conditions doesn't go off β archaeologists have found 3,000-year-old honey in Egyptian tombs that was still edible.
Why does honey taste different from different regions?
Honey reflects whatever flowers the bees were visiting. Manuka honey (from New Zealand's mΔnuka bush) has strong antimicrobial properties and a distinctive flavour. Scottish heather honey is thick and has a floral, complex taste. Orange blossom honey tastes almost perfumed. The nectar source determines the flavour, colour, and chemical composition of the final honey.
How much honey does a hive produce?
A healthy hive of around 60,000 bees might produce 20β30kg of honey in a good year. A bee will produce about 1/12th of a teaspoon of honey in its entire lifetime. To make one kilogram of honey, bees collectively fly roughly 90,000km and visit about 4 million flowers. The jar of honey in your kitchen represents an extraordinary amount of collective work.
Honey starts as flower nectar. This is the sweet liquid that plants make in their flowers. Plants do this to attract bees and other insects. A worker bee visits up to 1,500 flowers to collect nectar. The bee stores nectar in a special honey stomach. This is separate from its normal stomach for food. A full honey stomach holds about 40mg of nectar. This weighs about 80% of the bee's own body weight.
Making honey is like a relay race mixed with drying washing. The first bee collects nectar like starting a race. Back at the hive, it passes nectar to another bee through their mouths. This bee chews the nectar and adds special chemicals called enzymes. The nectar gets passed to more bees who chew it too. All this chewing adds enzymes and removes water from the nectar. Finally, bees put the nectar into honeycomb cells. House bees fan it with their wings like using a hairdryer. When enough water has gone, what's left is thick honey.
What do the enzymes do?
Bees add special chemicals called enzymes from their own bodies. The main enzyme is called invertase. This breaks down sucrose into glucose and fructose. Sucrose is the main sugar in flower nectar. Glucose and fructose don't turn into crystals as easily. They also keep the honey fresh for longer. Another enzyme makes gluconic acid and hydrogen peroxide. This makes honey slightly acidic and kills germs naturally. This is why honey doesn't go bad easily. Archaeologists found 3,000-year-old honey in Egyptian tombs. It was still good to eat!
Why does honey taste different from different regions?
Honey tastes like whatever flowers the bees visited. It's like making a smoothie with different fruits each time. Manuka honey comes from New Zealand's mΔnuka bush flowers. It kills germs very well and has a strong taste. Scottish heather honey is thick and tastes flowery. Orange blossom honey tastes almost like perfume. The flowers determine the taste, colour, and what's inside the honey.
How much honey does a hive produce?
A healthy hive with about 60,000 bees makes 20β30kg of honey yearly. That's like 30 bags of sugar! One bee makes about 1/12th of a teaspoon in its whole life. To make one kilogram of honey, bees fly roughly 90,000km together. That's like flying around the Earth twice! They also visit about 4 million flowers. The jar of honey in your kitchen took amazing teamwork to make.