How Is Honey Made?

Only a handful of the more than 20,000 species of bees on Earth make honey, with domesticated honeybees (Apis mellifera) being the major source of the sweet liquid. Honeybees first collect nectar from flowers (and sometimes non-floral nectar sources) and store it in their “honey stomachs.” As the bees fly back to their hive, enzymes in their stomachs start breaking down the nectar’s complex sugars into simpler ones, a process that is crucial for the transformation into honey. Indeed, nectar is ultimately “ripened” into honey by the breaking down of its sucrose sugar into fructose and glucose, which are simpler molecules.

Once back at the hive, the bees store the nectar in honeycomb cells made of beeswax, where sucrose continues to break down and the water content is reduced. While nectar contains up to 80 percent water, honey has only about 18 percent water, making it less prone to fermentation and spoilage. To promote the evaporation of excess water, bees fan their wings over the filled cells until the honey reaches the desired consistency. The cells are then sealed with a wax cap to preserve the honey for future use by the colony. Honey is a vital food source for the bees and their larvae, especially during the winter months when flowers are scarce.