How Honey is Made

Our little striped winged warrior - the honeybee - extracts the sugary liquid nectar from suitable flowering plants with his hollow tongue (or proboscis). Storing it in an extra stomach (or crop) it mixes with enzymes transforming the chemical composition and the pH to allow for long term storage.

Mr honeybee returns to the hive and passes this newly formed nectar to another bee by regurgitating this liquid into another bee’s mouth. This carries on until all the partially digested nectar is deposited into the honeycomb. As the liquid is still very viscous (or runny) the bees then cleverly create wind with their wings, effectively fanning out any extra water and allowing the bee to seal the honey into the comb with wax – phew! Not an easy process but well worth it!