How Do Bees Make Honey?
Take a look at the chemistry and science that happens in bees stomachs to produce honey.
From
How Do Bees Make Honey?
Season 3 Episode 1 | 2m 25sVideo has Closed Captions
Take a look at the chemistry and science that happens in bees stomachs to produce honey.
Honey is great. It’s perfect for drizzling over your toast or stirring into your tea, it’s also the special ingredient in your favorite lip balm. What most people don’t know is that during those honeybee's trip from the flower in the field to the jar on your table, honey spends an awful lot of time in a bee’s gut.
From
Problems with Closed Captions? Closed Captioning Feedback
Problems with Closed Captions? Closed Captioning Feedback
How Do Bees Make Honey?
Season 3 Episode 1 | 2m 25sVideo has Closed Captions
Honey is great. It’s perfect for drizzling over your toast or stirring into your tea, it’s also the special ingredient in your favorite lip balm. What most people don’t know is that during those honeybee's trip from the flower in the field to the jar on your table, honey spends an awful lot of time in a bee’s gut.
From
Problems with Closed Captions? Closed Captioning Feedback
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Learn Moreabout PBS online sponsorshipYou like honey, right?
Well, it's bee puke.
But whatever.
Honey is great.
I don't care what insect puked it up.
But bees, man, let me tell you.
There's an incredible amount of hierarchy and guess what else when it comes to honey--that's right, chemistry.
[SPLASH] Worker bees spend their days zipping around from flower to flower slurping up nectar hitting up as many as 1,500 flowers each time they leave the hive.
Nectar is delicious, as all bees know.
But bees' tiny fuzzy, sting-y bodies can't use the sucrose in nectar directly.
They have to digest it first and this is where the puking comes in.
When worker bees drink nectar, some of it goes into their regular stomachs so that they can keep their energy up to forage some more.
But most of it goes into a special nectar-only storage stomach to bring back to the hive.
After their bellies are full, the worker bees return to the hive to find a processor bee a stay at home bee, if you will and regurgitates the nectar into the other bee's mouth.
Why, you ask in horror?
Well, it's a team effort.
As the worker bee flies back to the hive, enzymes produced by the processor bees begin to break down the sucrose.
Once back, they pass the nectar to processor bees, [Bee enzymes: invertase, amylase, others] who continue to break down the nectar into fructose and glucose.
Quick fun fact, bees jobs are assigned by their age.
Processor bees are middle aged bees since they have the most amount of enzymes in their stomachs, whereas older bees stop producing the enzymes as they age, which is when they become the worker bees.
So after half an hour, the processor bees have broken down the nectar and turned it into honey.
From there, bees puke the honey into one of those little honeycomb holes for safekeeping (until bears and humans rob them).
But there's one more step.
Once the honey has been regurgitated into the honeycomb, it's still about 70 percent water.
So the processor bees spend the next few days fanning the honeycomb holes with their wings until it dries out to just under 18% water.
Then they secrete out wax to seal the the honey in the comb.
Although it's hard work, in a bee's entire life, she might make one-twelfth of a teaspoon of.
But boy is it tasty.
Who knew there was all this chemistry in honey?
What's your favorite use for honey?
And do vegans eat honey?
These are the kind of questions that keep me up at night...
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