At the end of each beekeeping season, beekeepers are met with a sweet reward for their months of hard work: the honey harvest. Let’s take a closer look at how honey is made, how it ends up in your kitchen, and all the steps in between.
STEP 1: HONEY BEES COLLECT NECTAR AND POLLEN
There are over 20,000 bee species worldwide, but only eight are true honey bee species. Among them, the european honey bee is the most familiar to many. These worker honey bees fly out daily in search of native flowering plants and other flowering plants, gathering shiny fresh nectar and bee utiful pollen. Honey bees can visit up to 50 million flowers each day, showcasing their incredible efficiency and importance in pollination.
Making pure honey requires significant effort. A single worker honey bee produces less than one teaspoon of honey in her lifetime. These busy buzzing bees, sometimes called busy bees, pollinate flowers as they collect pollen, which provides protein for their larvae, while the sweet nectar they gather is the raw material used to produce honey.
STEP 2: WORKER BEES TRANSFORM NECTAR INTO HONEY INSIDE THE HIVE
To turn nectar droplets into honey, bees evaporate most of the water content. When a worker honey bee returns to the hive, she passes nectar to another bee by regurgitating it. Honey bees suck up nectar droplets from the flower using their proboscis, a specialized mouthpart designed for this task.
Though it may sound unappealing, this process is essential because honey bees suck nectar into their honey stomachs where enzymes begin to break it down. These enzymes convert complex sugars in the nectar into simpler sugars, making it easier to store and digest.
This transfer repeats several times before the nectar is deposited into honey beeswax cells. Other worker bees, sometimes called house bees, help evaporate moisture by fanning air inside the hive. This warm breeze created by their wings is crucial for drying out the nectar and turning it into honey.
STEP 3: HONEY REACHES THE RIGHT CONSISTENCY
When the water content drops to about 17.8%, the nectar becomes finished honey. Worker bees then seal the honey cells with a thin wax cap, creating stored honey that is stable and won’t ferment, giving it a long shelf life. Once the honey has dried out, bees seal the honey cell with fresh beeswax to preserve it.
STEP 4: HARVESTING HONEY FROM THE HIVE
Capped honey frames, sometimes referred to as a pollen frame when containing pollen, signal to beekeepers that delicious honey is ready for harvest.
Beekeepers carefully move bees from the honey box to the brood box to avoid disturbing the colony. Then they remove the honey frames for extraction, leaving enough honey behind to sustain the bees through winter.
STEP 5: EXTRACTING AND BOTTLING HONEY
Extraction begins by removing wax cappings from the frames using a specialized tool. Frames are then placed in an extractor, which spins to release the honey. Beekeepers harvest honey by collecting honeycomb frames and scraping off the wax caps that seal honey in the cells.
After extraction, the honey is filtered to remove any wax or debris before bottling the little honey jar of highlands honey or urban honey for consumption. Honey can be heated to make the straining process easier without altering its natural composition.
Do you want to extract your own honey?
Extracting honey is a unique experience, which is why Alvéole offers Hive to Honey Jar workshops. Building tenants with beehives participate by extracting, bottling, and tasting fresh delicious honey. This activity fosters community engagement and connects people with urban nature.
WHAT HONEY REVEALS ABOUT YOUR ENVIRONMENT
Urban honey reflects the variety of native flowering plants and city flora. Unlike rural honey, often derived from a single flower type, urban honey is a complex mix created by native stingless bees and giant honey bees visiting many plants. Honey’s color and flavor vary based on the nectar collected by the bees, making each batch unique.
Since bees forage within a three-mile radius, neighboring areas produce noticeably different honeys. Sampling honey from your building’s hive offers a distinct taste of your neighborhood’s biodiversity.
HOW CAN WE USE HONEY EDNA TO MONITOR BIODIVERSITY?
Beekeepers collect honey samples from your hive, which Apilab analyzes to identify flower diversity.
Property managers receive annual reports tracking environmental impact over time, useful for sustainability reporting. Based on findings, you get tailored advice to enhance your site’s biodiversity.
Your hive’s data contributes confidentially to a global scientific network supporting pollinator health.
HOW BIODIVERSITY MONITORING WORKS
Beekeepers collect honey samples from your hive, which Apilab analyzes to identify flower diversity.
Property managers receive annual reports tracking environmental impact over time, useful for sustainability reporting.
Based on findings, you get tailored advice to enhance your site’s biodiversity.
Additionally, your hive’s data contributes confidentially to a global scientific network supporting pollinator health research.
HONEY IS MORE THAN A TASTY TREAT
To sum it up, honey is:
- Delicious (you already knew that)
- The result of months of hard work (both for the bees and the beekeeper)
- A way for communities to celebrate a successful beekeeping season
- A sample of your neighborhood’s one-of-a-kind flavor
- A scientific tool for measuring biodiversity
