The remarkable process of honey production is not only fascinating due to its complexity but also because of the immense effort involved. Bees have been creating honey for thousands of years, a practice that dates back to prehistoric times across various regions, including South America, Europe, North Africa, and Asia. Regardless of the amount of nectar or honey stored in their hives, bees continue to forage as long as there is nectar available and space in the hive. This relentless foraging behavior is a testament to their industrious nature.
The relationship between bees and flowers has evolved over 120 million years, with both species adapting to benefit one another. Flowers have developed attractive features and sugary nectar to entice bees for pollination, while bees have evolved specialized traits such as hairy bodies for pollen collection and pollen baskets on their hind legs for transporting pollen back to the hive. This intricate relationship is crucial for the reproduction of flowering plants.
The honey-making process exemplifies a remarkable collaboration between bees and flowers, showcasing nature's intricate interdependencies that have developed over millions of years.
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It is our collective and individual responsibility to to preserve and tend to the environment in which we all live.
~
His Holiness XIV Dalai Lama



Why is pollination important?
Without pollination, most flowering crops would be unable to produce seeds, a process primarily facilitated by pollinating insects that visit flowers to gather essential nectar. Just as bees rely entirely on flowering plants for their sustenance, a vast number of these plants depend on bees and other pollinators for reproduction. This symbiotic relationship has been in place for around 120 million years, dating back to the emergence of flowering plants. Consequently, the interdependence extends beyond bees and flowers; humans also rely on this vital connection, as bees are essential pollinators for approximately 30-35% of global food crops.​
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A bee's menu
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To sustain a colony through the summer dearth - when few plants are in bloom - and the cold winter months, honey bees rely on two essential food sources.
Pollen:
Honey bees obtain their protein from pollen, which they collect and store in specialized sacks on their hind legs. While foraging for sugary nectar (their source of carbohydrates) from flowering plants, they inadvertently carry pollen on their bodies. As they move from flower to flower, this pollen brushes against the stigma, the female part of the flower, facilitating fertilization and enabling seed production.
Nectar:
The carbohydrates that bees need come from the nectar they extract from flowers. To transport this nectar back to the hive, bees store it in a specialized stomach known as the honey stomach, where it remains undigested until they return. This honey stomach can hold up to 70 milligrams of nectar, which is roughly half the weight of an adult bee.

Transformation from nectar to honey
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Nectar Collection: Only the eldest worker bees are allowed to venture out to collect nectar from flowers using their long tongues. They may visit between 50 and 100 flowers in a single trip, gathering nectar that is rich in complex sugars.
Transport: Once collected, the nectar is stored in a special stomach known as the honey stomach, where enzymes begin to break down complex sugars into simpler ones. This process starts while the bee is still foraging. The honey stomach can hold around 70 milligrams of nectar, which is around half the body weight of the bee. On a human scale, we could consider a body weight of 70kg; which would translate to carrying the weight of a standard sized washing machine or an 11 year old child, all day and still have the ability and to navigate and avoid obstacles!
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Transfer: Upon returning to the hive, bees regurgitate the nectar and share it with younger worker bees (known as house bees) through a process called trophallaxis. This helps further process the nectar into simpler sugars and reduce its moisture content. The house bee will keep the load in their honey stomach for around 30 minutes to provide more enzymes, and then deposit the precious load as droplets of uncured nectar into the cells of the beeswax honeycomb (which the house bees also built in perfect geometric hexagons and cleaned in preparation!).
Processing: This raw nectar is around 80% water, and it’s only when the water content is reduced to 18% that it's considered by the house bees to be ready for storage. At this stage, the house bees will stir and manipulate the unripe nectar with their mouth parts (almost like blowing bubbles in it) to begin the reduction in moisture content.
Storage: The processed nectar is deposited into hexagonal beeswax cells within the hive. Bees then fan their wings to evaporate excess moisture from the nectar, thickening it into honey. While all bees in the hive will perform this function to maintain temperature and eliminate humidity, recent research has shown that the female worker bees will physically herd groups of male drone bees to areas where extra ventilation is necessary. This huge reduction in moisture content from 80% to 18% also gives a good indication of the incredible volume of raw nectar the foraging bees need to carry back to the hive to produce the honey that is eventually stored.
Preservation: Once the honey reaches an appropriate consistency, bees cap the cells with a non-breathable wax to protect the honey from moisture and contamination, allowing it to be stored for the winter months, along with the pollen that is mixed with the honey to create ‘bee bread’.
The dedication and teamwork of bees throughout this intricate process highlight their essential role in both their survival and the production of honey that humans enjoy. Each jar represents an incredible journey involving thousands of flowers and countless hours of labor by these incredible sentient beings.
If (and only if) the colony is properly taken care of, the colony will produce enough for themselves, as well as a share for the beekeeper to harvest. The essential point at all stages is that the beekeeper is knowledgeable of the process and the needs of the colony, as well as ethical in the amount of honey that is harvested.
What it takes to create a jar of honey
​To produce a typical 500 gram jar of honey, research indicates that a colony of honey bees collectively flies approximately 75,000 kilometers, visiting around 500,000 flowers. This distance is particularly impressive when compared to the Earth's circumference of 40,075 kilometers. Each individual bee contributes to this effort by producing only about 1/12th of a teaspoon (0.6 grams) of honey over its lifetime. However, a healthy hive can generate up to 45 kilograms of honey during the spring and summer seasons.