From the time when a bee, led by its natural instincts, flies out of its hive looking for a fragrant flower and till the moment when we take a jar of honey in our hands, floral nectar goes a very long and interesting way.
First of all, bees create honeycombs in hives at apiaries or, for example, in hollows of tree trunks with a fantastic skill and precision. 20 to 60 thousands of bees can live in a hive.
Honey-bringing bees bring floral nectar back to their hives. It is noteworthy that a bee must visit up to 1,500 flowers in order to collect approximately 70 mg of nectar that comprises the volume of the nectar stomach of the bee and weights almost as the insect itself. And to collect 100 g of honey a bee must fly over 40 to 45 km.
In the hive honeybees chew the nectar and their enzymes split sugars in its composition. As a result the nectar becomes easily digestible. It is also protected from getting damaged by bacteria when stored for a long time. The processed nectar is put in honeycombs where it becomes dense due to water evaporation caused by the work of bee wings. The bees seal honeycombs filled with ready honey using the wax that is produced by their wax pockets.