[ELI5] How do bees actually make honey?

Question

I understand that the bees harvest nectar from flowers. They then return to the hive and… put the nectar in the hive? Does it ferment like a beer? Or is there some other process that happens?

In: Biology

Answer 1

They drink the nectar, bring it back to the hive, then spew it up. Then, other bees repeat this process, bubbling the still very liquid honey up, increasing its surface area and thus the rate of evaporation. Enzymes from the bees’ stomachs further aid the thickening process.

Eventually the honey is thick enough to be transferred to a honeycomb cell. There the bees carefully regulate the temperature and air flow to again evaporate more liquid and increase the sugar saturation, which prevents the honey fermenting. Finally they cap the cell with wax.