HONEY PRODUCTION

By Capt. S.K.BHANDARI
The Busy Life
Of Bees
Bees, Bee Keeping &
Honey Making
Bee vocabulary
Cell
Worker bee
Queen bee
Drone bee
Nectar
Beehive
Honey
Wax
Honey comb
Types of Honey bees
Worker bee

During the first two days of its life, a worker bee
cleans its cell.
When they are three days old they feed the drones
and larvae.
Workers have glands that produce wax. They shape
the wax into the comb. During their last days in the
hive they guard the entrance.
When the worker bee leaves the hive, during its
travels it collects water, nectar, and pollen. A worker
bee has ultraviolet vision which allows it to see
patterns on flower petals which attract the workers to
them.
Types of Honey bees:
Queen Bee

A queen lays all the eggs.
For a queen to be born, the workers must feed the
larva royal jelly. If a new queen is born, the old queen will
kill it or leave with half of the hive colony. That is a bee
swarm.
She lays her own weight in eggs every day in summer,
from 1,500 2,400 eggs per day.
In her lifetime, she can lay over 600,000 eggs. Queen
bees can live more up to six years, but her usual lifespan
in a hive is two years.
The queen is fed by the worker bees, and eats up to 80
times her weight daily.

Types of Honey bees
Drone Bee

They are the male species.
The drones have big, strong wings.
Their only purpose in life is to mate with the female.
They have no stinger.
They make up 10% of the hive colony.
They use their strong wings for the mating flight. After
the mating flight, the workers take care of the drones.
Before winter, the workers bite the wings off the drones,
and kick them out of the hive since they are of no more
use. They are left to die.

Communication
The principle form of communication among honey bees
is through chemicals called pheromones.
They also communicate by vibration (BUZZZZZzzzz)
Bees are deaf to most sounds, and they are mute.
Worker bees alert other bees to nectar and pollen
sources by doing a "waggle" dance, which explains
direction and distance.
If the source is within 100 meters of the hive, the bees
dance is in a circular shape. If it is further away than 100
meters, they dance a figure 8.
Honey
Production

The worker bees
collect nectar (a
sweet liquid found in
flowers) from a
variety of flowers.
They must visit
between 100 & 150
flowers in order to fill
their stomachs

Honey
Production

They use their long
tube like tongue to
suck the nectar from
the flower.

Honey
Production
The nectar then
enters their honey
stomach which is
separate from their
digestive stomach

Honey
Production
When the nectar
enters the stomach
the sugar from the
nectar reacts with
enzymes to form two
simple sugars. This
is an important
process in the
making of honey

Honey
Production



The nectar is stored
in the stomach until
they return to the
hive.

Honey
Production
When the bees get
to the hive, they
regurgitate the
nectar into the cells
or they pass it to
other bees who put
it into the cells
Honey
Production
The next stage in the
process of making
honey:

all the bees fan the
nectar with their wings,
which creates a draft
and helps the excess
water to evaporate. The
nectar thus becomes
thicker, and the high
sugar concentration
prevents fermentation.
The honey at this stage
is called ripe honey,
and if removed from the
hive and properly
sealed, can have a long
shelf life.
Honey
Production

They continue with
this process until the
cells are full and
then they put a wax
cap over the cells

How bees make
honey
Why do bees need honey?
Bees store the honey in the
hive and use it for energy
They store it through the winter
months to keep warm:
During the winter, workers and the
queen form a tight cluster and
metabolize the honey to generate
heat. This keeps the bees warm
and protects them from the
cold. The temperature of the
winter cluster typically stays
around 29 C. However, the
colony will die if the honey supply
runs short and the bees are
unable to produce enough heat
Beekeeping
A person who breeds
bees for the production of
honey is called a
Beekeeper
Beekeepers must wear a
hooded suit with a veil to
protect themselves from
the bees
Harvesting honey
Beekeepers create
homemade hives to
gather the honey comb
Harvesting honey
They allow the bees to
make the honey and
when its the right time of
year, the beekeepers
collect the honey combs.
How do the beekeepers stay
safe?
The beekeepers wear
protective clothing
They also spray some
smoke onto the hive
before they collect it.
This makes the bees eat
some honey and it calms
them so they are less
likely to sting
Collecting the honey
Some bee keepers check
on the honey production
and then place a bee
escape over the hive.
This allows the bees to
leave but does not allow
them to re-enter.
After a few days the
beekeeper returns to
collect the honey combs
and there are very few
bees
Collecting the honey
The beekeeper brings the
honey comb inside
They use a special
heated knife to take off
the wax honey comb
They sometimes use a
machine that spins the
honey and puts it through
a filter
Final Stage
The last and final stage is
to bottle the honey and
eat it!
Learn how to harvest
honey:
Health Benefits
Anti-bacterial
Anti-inflammatory
burns
Leg ulcers
Stomach ulcers
Diarrhea and upset stomach
Prevents cancer and heart disease
Good for skin
Helps a sore throat
Helps with blood formation
****babies younger than 1 year should not eat honey!!
Bee Jokes
Who is the bees favorite pop band?
-The Bee Gees

What did the bee say to the flower?
-Hello honey!!

What is the favorite fairytale in the hive?
-Beauty and the bees

Why did the bee go to the dermatologist?
-because he had bad hives

Why did the bee cross the road?
Just bee-cause!