how do bees make honey?

1gathering nectar

It starts with a bee visiting a flower, sipping up sweet watery nectar with her long tongue.

2honey stomach

She stores that nectar in a special pouch called the honey stomach, separate from her regular stomach — she carries it home.

3passing it along

Back at the hive she passes the nectar mouth-to-mouth to another bee — this chewing and passing adds enzymes that change the sugar.

4the honeycomb

The bee then spits the nectar into a wax honeycomb cell — a perfect little hexagon built just for storage.

5fanning + sealing

Bees fan the nectar with their wings, evaporating the water until it's thick, sticky honey — then they seal it with a wax cap to keep forever.