Honey is produced by bees from the nectar of flowers. Bees collect nectar by visiting flowers and using their long, straw-like tongues called proboscises to suck up the sweet liquid. They store the nectar in a specialized honey stomach separate from their regular digestive system. As the bee collects nectar from multiple flowers, enzymes are added to the nectar to break down complex sugars into simpler forms.
Once the bee's honey stomach is full, it returns to the hive and regurgitates the nectar into the mouth of another bee. This process is repeated several times within the hive, with each bee adding more enzymes to the nectar. The bees then spread the nectar across the cells of the honeycomb and fan it with their wings to promote evaporation.
The water content of the nectar gradually decreases as bees fan their wings, and this, combined with the action of the enzymes, converts the nectar into honey. Once the honey reaches a specific moisture content (around 18%), the bees cap the cell of the honeycomb with beeswax to seal it. This stored honey serves as a food source for the bees during times when flowers are scarce. Beekeepers harvest the surplus honey by carefully removing the capped honeycombs from the hive and extracting the honey from the cells.
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