Hey ELI5! I’ve always been curious about how bees are able to make honey. I know they collect something from flowers, but what exactly happens after that? How does what they collect turn into the honey we eat? Could someone explain this process in a simple way? Thanks!
In: Biology
Flowers produce a sugar-rich fluid called nectar that bees are attracted to, as a means to encourage bees and other insects to pollinate. The bee extracts nectar from many flowers stores that nectar in a specialized internal sac call “The Honey Stomach” and returns to the hive, where they regurgitate the nectar into a cell made of wax. Bees then ingest this nectar into their honey stomachs, which contain specialized enzymes to facilitate the process of transforming the nectar into honey, over and over. They also use their wings to fan the wax cells to evaporate some of the water content, concentrating the sugars.
The end result, which is very long-lasting, is what we call honey. The tl;dr is that bees use enzymes to break down and reform sugars, and reduce the water content of nectar, to produce honey. The reason is that lower water content and higher sugar content inhibits bacterial and fungal growth, and makes it more nutritious per gram.
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