From Flower to Hive: How Bees Turn Nectar into Honey
We've all savored the rich, amber sweetness of honey, whether drizzled over toast, stirred into tea, or straight from the jar. But have you ever stopped to wonder what honey really is? Is it truly "bee vomit," as some might jokingly call it? How exactly do bees transform flower nectar into the honey we enjoy? Let’s dive into the fascinating world of honey production!
What Exactly is Honey?
Honey is a natural product created from the nectar of plants, and occasionally from honeydew—a sugary secretion left behind by plant-sucking insects. The incredible transformation from nectar to honey is an exclusive task of the female worker bees within a colony. In the United States alone, hundreds of unique honey varieties are produced, each with its own distinct flavor, color, and texture, influenced by the specific plants the nectar is drawn from, as well as the season in which it’s harvested. Some of these honeys are so unique that they are only available seasonally and in limited quantities, often tied to specific regions.
A worker bee foraging for nectar from a salvia plant
The Journey from Flower to Hive
The honey-making process begins when a worker bee sets out from the hive on a mission to gather nectar. Nectar serves as the bee’s primary source of carbohydrates, fueling her energy for flying and producing beeswax. When she finds a flower, she uses her proboscis—a long, tube-like tongue—to extract the nectar, storing it in her honey stomach. Contrary to what the name suggests, the honey stomach isn’t for digestion; it’s a specialized sac designed to hold nectar during the bee's foraging trips.
As the bee visits flower after flower, her honey stomach gradually fills. Remarkably, a worker bee can carry nearly three-quarters of her body weight in nectar! During the return flight to the hive, the nectar in her honey stomach begins to mix with an enzyme called invertase. This enzyme initiates the conversion of nectar’s sucrose into glucose and fructose, the simple sugars that make up honey.
A worker bee walking on capped honey
Inside the Hive: The Final Stages of Honey Production
Upon returning to the hive, the worker bee passes her nectar load to other worker bees, who take on the task of transforming it into honey. On average, nectar is about 80% water, far too watery to be stored as honey. The bees must reduce the water content to about 17-18% for the nectar to qualify as honey. They achieve this by manipulating the nectar with their mouthparts, exposing it to the dry air inside the hive. The bees then deposit drops of nectar into individual beeswax cells and fan their wings to create a breeze that evaporates the water.
Once the nectar is sufficiently dehydrated, the drops are consolidated into a single cell. When the cell is completely filled with ripened honey, the bees seal it with a thin layer of beeswax, effectively preserving the honey and keeping it fresh for future use.
Freshly harvested honeycomb from one of our hives in 2017
Given the right conditions—ample space, suitable weather, and abundant resources—honey bees will continue to produce and store honey as long as nectar is available. Bees work tirelessly throughout the year to ensure they have enough honey to sustain the colony through the winter months. The amount of honey that a colony needs to survive until spring varies drastically depending on location and the overall health of the bees. Here in Santa Cruz, we leave our bees about 70-90 pounds of honey, which is more than enough. If you can believe it, a single worker bee will produce just 1/12 of a teaspoon (equivalent to 5 drops) of honey in her short 4-6 week life. The next time you savor a spoonful of honey, remember the incredible effort and teamwork that went into making it!
The Marvel of Honey
Honey is a marvel of nature, a product of complex teamwork, industriousness, and precision by thousands of bees. The next time you enjoy honey, take a moment to appreciate the journey it took from the flowers to your spoon.