How is honey produced

Honey is not artificially blended. Artificially blended honey is fake honey. The real honey we usually drink is pure natural honey after picking and processing. The nutritional value of these honeys is very high. At the same time, they can promote digestion and absorption, and the taste is also very good. How honey is produced depends on the honey picking process, because the collection process of each type of honey is different.

Where does honey come from? The formation of honey

1. Nectar is not the same as honey

Nectar comes from the nectar glands of plants and is the product of photosynthesis of plants over a certain period of time. Honey is a sweet substance that bees collect from nectar secreted by nectaries in plants' flowers or secretions from nectaries outside flowers, and after being fully brewed, they are stored in the hive.

The process of bees turning nectar into honey mainly involves two changes: one is physical change: the bees flap their wings in the hive to fan the air, reducing the moisture content of the nectar, which originally had a moisture content of 50% to 80%, to below 20%. The second is biochemical action: the digestive enzymes secreted by bees convert the sucrose and polysaccharides in nectar into reducing sugars - glucose and fructose - that can be directly absorbed by the human body, bringing the reducing sugar content to 65%-80% and the sucrose content down to below 5%.

Where does honey come from? The formation of honey

2. The process of bees making honey

When the field bees collect nectar, they first suck the nectar into the honey sacs in their bodies, and then fly back to the hive to give the collected nectar to the field bees.

It takes bees 20 to 40 minutes to collect nectar each time. They stay in the hive for about 4 minutes before going out again. During the peak nectar flow period, bees go out 10 to 24 times a day. When collecting nectar, bees absorb it drop by drop into their sacs. The amount collected each time is generally 40 to 60 mg, which is basically equivalent to their body weight. To produce 1,000 grams of honey, tens of thousands of collection flights are required, interviewing millions or even tens of millions of flowers.

The office bee spits nectar at the tip of the beak in its mouth to form small bubbles, and flaps its wings to fan the air, causing the water in the bubbles to evaporate continuously. This repeated swallowing and spitting increases the concentration of the honey. During the bees' continuous swallowing and exhaling process, the nectar is mixed with the digestive enzymes in the bees' bodies. These enzymes prompt the sucrose and polysaccharides in the nectar to be continuously converted into glucose and fructose.

When the honey reaches a certain concentration, the bees will smear it on the cells in the honey storage area. The water will be further evaporated under the action of the temperature in the hive and the constant flapping of the bees' wings. When the honey reaches a very high concentration (water content less than 20%), it becomes mature honey. The bees store the honey in the cells and then seal them with wax caps.

This is the whole process of bees turning the collected nectar into mature honey. When beekeepers discover a large amount of this capped honey, they take it out, separate it with a centrifuge, and perform basic processing such as filtering before it can be provided to people for consumption. It can be seen that every drop of honey we enjoy is the result of the hard work of bees. Such a delicious delicacy is indeed hard-earned!