How do bees make honey?

Bees make honey through a fascinating process of collection, transformation, and evaporation:

1. Collection: Worker bees fly to flowers to collect nectar, which is a sugary liquid. They store this in a specialized "honey stomach," separate from their digestive stomach.
2. Enzymatic Breakdown: While the nectar is in the honey stomach, natural enzymes from the bee begin to break down the complex sugars of the nectar into simpler sugars (like glucose and fructose). This also helps prevent the honey from spoiling.
3. Transfer: Once back at the hive, the field bee passes the nectar to house bees through a process of regurgitation. The house bees chew the nectar, further mixing it with enzymes.
4. Evaporation: The bees deposit the nectar into the honeycomb cells. Because nectar has a high water content, the bees fan it rapidly with their wings. This constant airflow causes the water to evaporate, thickening the nectar into the syrupy, stable substance we recognize as honey.
5. Sealing: Once the moisture level drops to about 18%, the bees seal the honeycomb cell with a cap of beeswax to store it for future use.