Honey Producers

Most bees produce honey. These bees are commonly known as honeybees. They collect nectar and store it as honey in their hives.

This collected nectar and honey serve as a food source to provide the energy for the bees.The pollen collected by the honeybees also supplies protein for bee brood to grow.

Bees go from flower to flower to gather pollen or nectar. They suck the nectar from flowers and stores it in their special honey stomach. They then return to the hive to transfer this nectar mouth-to-mouth from bee to bee until its moisture content is reduced from about 70% to 20%, transforming nectar into honey. Sometimes, the nectar is immediately stored in the cells of the honeycomb before the mouth-to-mouth working as some of the moisture evaporates due to the warmth of the hive. Lastly, honey is kept in storage cells and sealed with beeswax to be readily available for newborn baby bees (Australian Honey Bee Industry Council, 2017).

This honey is also harvested by humans as it is highly popular and delicious. By the year of 2010, the global honey trade showed a demand of a whopping 19,504 tonnes a year and by 2013, the honey trade was valued at $317.1 million, demonstrating how the world is in love with honey. This is not surprising, as not only is honey delicious, it is also highly beneficial. Research have shown that raw honey is filled with trace minerals, organic enzymes, and antioxidants. They also contain nutrients like vitamins B and C and magnesium, pre- and probiotics, and an array of flavonoids and phenolic acids that serve as antioxidants (Henein, 2014). Furthermore, other bee-made products like propolis, beeswax and royal jelly are also highly useful and beneficial, as seen from the infograph below! (click to zoom in)