Honey bees are versatile insects as they provide pollination, nectar and wax production simultaneously. You should know that bees make honey and wax in their hives (in trees or in hives).
bees produce honey
The honey making process begins with foraging. Each bee then feeds on the nectar or honeydew. The first substance is produced by flowers, while the second is secreted by small insects that drink the sap of plants, especially fir trees. The liquid so sucked up is stored in the crop until the bees reach the hive. Once there, she passes nectar mixed with saliva into the mouth of a worker bee. Repeat this several times for a thicker consistency of nectar or honeydew. The purpose of the mouth-to-mouth transfer is also to allow the substance to acquire the texture of honey. Also, due to this process, the honeydew or nectar is enriched with substances inside each bee. The concentrated substance, more precisely honey, is then placed in the cells by the last worker bee. The latter is sealed with wax once the honey has lost enough moisture. You should know that honey is the winter supplement for bees. To do this, the bees unwrap the wax covering the cells. But since they don’t need all the honey, beekeepers harvest the rest for our consumption.
How do bees make wax?
To understand how bees produce natural wax, you should know that they have 4 pairs of glands in their abdomen. The job of these glands is to make a liquid that is used to make wax. In fact, the fluid drains from their abdomens in the form of scales. But before that, the scales are chewed up by the bees’ saliva, forming a paste that’s called wax. The latter will be used by bees to make cells. When these are damaged, beekeepers use them to make status and candles. For this, the wax must be melted at 60°C. All that’s left is to use a mold or cookie cutter to give it the desired shape. A temperature of around 37°C is required for the wax to harden again.
Bees have the advantage of being good insects. In fact, they ensure the pollination of flowers, which is useful for plant reproduction and fruit production. Bees also make honey, which is highly appreciated especially by gourmets. Finally, they are the source of the wax used by candle and wax figure makers.
Recommended reading:
– Other articles about honey making
– OPIE website