Why do bees make honey? Let's find out together.

Honey is one of the most valuable natural products, both for its diverse nutritional properties and for its many uses, from cooking to traditional medicine and cosmetics. But why do bees make honey? It's a curious question, the answer to which isn't exactly known to everyone, so we'll take care of the answer!

Bees are responsible for a good part of honey production through the work carried out in the warmer months of the year, between pollination of flowers and activity in the hive, but then it is up to the’beekeeper do everything else. Its job is to extract the honey from the combs, then filter it and let it settle, without the need for further processing.

Why do bees make honey? The need to make honey

Pollinating insects, more specifically honeybees, are responsible for honey production. For bees, producing honey is a necessity. As mentioned above, their work is dependent on high temperatures and the presence of flowers: between spring and summer, they fly from flower to flower, collecting pollen and nectar from plants, which they then transport back to the hive. In autumn and winter, they remain dormant.

So how do they manage to survive during the long cold months?

The answer is simple: honey—which represents a great source of energy due to its high glucose content—is stored thanks to the work done in the previous months, thus ensuring the bees' nourishment for the winter. The required amount of honey must be sufficient to feed both the queen bee and the entire colony or family. Honey, considered a reserve food, is "produced" only by bees and other similar pollinating insects, since only they need to store food.

Why do bees make honey? The life of bees, from honey production to food.

The bee is not a solitary animal; on the contrary, quite the opposite! This pollinating insect lives in a very large family, whose very survival is the result of intense cooperation between all its members: the queen bee, the drones (male bees), and the worker bees. Rather than working for themselves, bees work for the benefit of the entire family. Consider their very short lifespan: those born in the summer live on average only a few weeks (about 4), while in the winter they can live up to 3 months.

After the 21st day of life, the worker bee becomes a forager, which means it leaves the hive to collect nectar and pollen using its mouthparts and hind legs. The forager bee, then, is tasked with gathering the raw materials needed to produce honey, flying from flower to flower or up tree trunks. Inside the flower, it finds precious nectar—a sugary solution produced by the plant through special glands—and also brings pollen, which is useful for reproduction. On the trunk of a tree, however, it finds honeydew, another sugary liquid derived from the excretion of certain types of tiny insects that suck the sap and release it.

Why do bees make honey? From flower to hive...

The nectar The honeydew is sucked up and collected in the honey sac located in the bee's throat. Since it is small (just like our pollinating insect), every time the honey sac fills up, the bee returns to the hive to empty itself. From this moment on, the initial transformation of the honey begins thanks to all the enzymes found in the bee's digestive system.

Then, inside the hive, the’foraging bee The bee regurgitates the collected nectar and passes it on to the other bees, who then process it with the addition of further enzymes. The resulting mixture (which is no longer nectar, but not yet honey) is deposited in cells to undergo the concentration process. The liquid, in fact, contains too much water, which would risk molding during storage.

At this point, the worker bees, in turn, eat it and hold it in their bodies for about half an hour before regurgitating it. They then flap their wings to create a current that evaporates the water inside, raising the humidity level and thus "sealing" the cells. The honey, sealed in the cells, is then protected and preserved for the following months, providing nourishment for the so-called "bad season.".

How do bees make honey? The step-by-step process

The transformation of nectar into honey is a masterpiece of team bioengineering that takes place inside the hive. The process is divided into four main phases:

1. The collection: The forager bee sucks nectar from the flowers through its ligula and stores it in the honey bag (a special stomach dedicated solely to transport). Here, the nectar already comes into contact with the bee's first enzymes.
2. Trophallaxis (mouth-to-mouth passage): Once back at the hive, the forager bee regurgitates the nectar and passes it to a "recipient" worker bee. This close passage is repeated among dozens of bees. Each bee adds salivary enzymes (such as invertase) that break down the complex sugars in the nectar into simple sugars (glucose and fructose).
3. Dehydration (ventilation): The nectar is still too liquid and hot (it contains about 80% of water). The bees deposit it in the hexagonal cells and begin to flap their wings frantically. This forced ventilation evaporates the water until it is reduced to below 18%.
4. The capping: Once the honey has reached the perfect density, the bees seal the cell with a thin layer of wax (the operculum). This protects the honey from moisture and bacteria, ready to be stored for months or years.

Why does honey never go bad? The secret of the hive

Honey is an extraordinary food, perhaps the only natural edible product that boasts a potentially eternal shelf life. Archaeologists working in Egypt have unearthed honey jars dating back thousands of years inside pharaonic tombs, discovering that the contents were still perfectly edible.

This phenomenon is not a coincidence, but the result of a perfect chemical and biological combination orchestrated by bees. Within the vast range of beehive products, honey in fact represents the highest level of preservative efficiency.

Its biological immortality is mainly due to three scientific factors:

The absence of water and the power of osmosis

In its natural state, honey is a substance with a very high concentration of sugars and a very low moisture content (usually less than 18%). In chemistry, this condition makes it highly hygroscopic: means that it tends to absorb the surrounding moisture, but contains very little of it within itself.

When a bacterium, spore or fungus comes into contact with honey, it undergoes a physical process called osmosis. Honey's high sugar concentration "pays the price" by instantly extracting water from the pathogen's cells. Deprived of its vital moisture, the bacterium dehydrates and dies within moments.

To achieve this level of dehydration, worker bees perform tireless forced ventilation by moving their wings above the cells before capping. This storage occurs primarily in super combs; for more information on managing these spaces within the hive, you can read our technical guide on difference between nest and super.

A highly acidic environment (pH is the enemy of bacteria)

Honey's second protective shield is its acidity level. The pH of honey generally ranges between 3.5 and 4.5. This marked acidity is generated by the presence of various organic acids, first of all the’gluconic acid, which is formed during the maturation of the nectar.

Most harmful bacteria and microorganisms that cause food spoilage thrive in neutral or slightly alkaline environments. Such a low acidity acts as a chemical barrier, paralyzing the cellular reproduction of any external pathogen.

The miracle of glucose oxidase (natural hydrogen peroxide)

The ultimate secret of the hive, however, lies in a special enzyme that bees secrete from their hypopharyngeal glands when handling nectar: the glucose oxidase.

When bees regurgitate and process nectar inside the hive, this enzyme breaks down the original glucose into two byproducts:

• Gluconic acid (responsible for the acidity seen above).
• The hydrogen peroxide, commonly known as hydrogen peroxide.

Hydrogen peroxide is released into honey in infinitesimal but constant doses. It's the perfect amount: high enough to destroy the cell membranes of infiltrating microbes and bacteria, yet completely harmless to the human body. This exceptional antibacterial and disinfectant property is the main reason why, since ancient times, honey has been successfully used to soothe respiratory tract inflammation, serving as the basic ingredient in the famous Honey for coughs, our grandmothers' remedy.

Warning: When can honey go bad?

There is one exception to the rule of honey's immortality: excess humidity. If honey is stored in an open or improperly sealed jar, its hygroscopic nature will cause it to absorb moisture from the air.

If the internal humidity level exceeds the critical threshold of 20%, the yeasts naturally present in the honey (until then silent and inactive) will “wake up” starting a process of fermentation. In this specific case, the honey will change odor, appear small bubbles on the surface, and take on a sour, alcoholic flavor, becoming unfit for consumption.

Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ) about why bees make honey

What does honey do for bees?

Honey is the main source of carbohydrates and nutrients for bees. It serves as an energy reserve to allow the colony to survive during winter or periods of drought, when there are no fresh flowers to draw from.

How many flowers must a bee visit to make a kilo of honey?

To produce just one kilogram of honey, bees must collect and land on approximately 2.7 million flowers, traveling a total distance equal to three times around the Earth.

Do bees suffer if the beekeeper takes their honey?

No, if beekeeping is practiced ethically and rationally. Bees naturally tend to produce much more honey than is strictly necessary for their survival. The beekeeper collects only the surplus (the "super"), leaving the essential reserves intact in the nest for the winter.