Honey is a natural product of bees, it contains most of the healing vitamins and properties of .It has an irreplaceable taste and an amazing smell, honey can be taken as a separate product, or with a variety of foods, and also based on it are made therapeutic compounds with the addition of various products. But not all fans of this delicacy know how and where it comes from and who makes the honey. This is a long and laborious process.
Table of contents
- How does honey turn out?
- Why do bees collect honey?
- How to collect honey?
- What is honey for?
- How much honey does a bee colony collect?
How it turns out honey
The process of extracting honey takes place in 4 stages:
- worker bees chew nectar for a long time and add the enzymes to it. Sugar is split into fructose and glucose, which makes the product more digestible. Bee saliva has antibacterial properties that contribute to the decontamination of nectar and the extension of honey storage;
- finished products is placed on pre-prepared cells , which are filled to 2/3;
- after begins the process of evaporation of moisture .Insects flap their wings, which increases the temperature. Over time, the moisture disappears, forming a viscous syrup;
Frame with printed honey - honeycombs with substance are sealed sealed with wax corks , and in the created vacuum honey reaches full maturity. Wax jams contain the secretion of bee saliva, which disinfects the cell, preventing the fermentation of the finished product.
Why do bees harvest honey?
There are several options for answering the question why:
Nectar and further honey produced from it is the main carbohydrate food for these insects.
Another answer is , the need to feed the larvae of brood. From the 4th day youngsters start to feed on a combination of water, pollen and honey. The uterus after its birth, also consumes honey food or a mixture of sugar and honey. Why else do bees produce honey? This product is an inexhaustible source for bee colonies, it produces the necessary amount of heat to maintain the required temperature in hives( 34-35 ° C).
The bee collects pollen from the . Bees, while collecting food, drag the pollen on their paws, helping the to fertilize the seeds of honey-bearing vegetation .For the whole summer they fly from flower to flower, carrying out the so-called fruitful “collaboration”.
How to collect honey?
No less interesting is the process of accumulating honey. Before the bees start honey collection, they receive an warning from the reconnaissance bees , which side is the honey collection and what is the distance to it. At this point, the bee-gatherers are ready to “start”, expecting a certain signal from the scouting bees. Upon the return of the first such bee to the apiary, the insects receive information using the information movements ( beekeepers recently called it bee "dancing") about the beginning of the honey collection. The insect very quickly makes an incomplete circle around the honeycomb, then flies in a straight line, wagging its womb, and again makes a semicircle, but in the opposite direction.
If you show bee "dance" on white paper, then formed eight. In order for all honeybees to fly in for warning movements, the scout repeats the signaling movements several times. In addition to this, the “dance” ceremony involves the attraction of several gathering bees, who make exactly the same movements, touch her belly, and sometimes take fresh nectar from her. The signaling movements of the cause all bees to become active in the hive. After delivering fresh nectar to the bees, the scout flies back, followed by the rest of the insects mobilized and prepared for the start of their labor activity.
Scout bees are daily looking for new sites to collect nectar, where honey plants have a high concentration of sugar in nectar. Sometimes the bad weather becomes an obstacle for the honey collection, making a forced break, and the flowering bees who arrive for pollen return empty. Insects make observations and wait for the resumption of nectar excretion to notify the family.
What is honey for?
Honey is essential for health and for the human body as a whole. Has the ability to stabilize and help improve the condition of most organs of , strengthens protective functions, improves blood circulation, inhibits the aging process, is a powerful source of energy.
Useful properties of are explained by its origin and complex chemical components. Honey is known for its healing, antiviral, invigorating functions, due to which it is widely used in medicine.
How much honey does a bee colony collect?
In each hive there is one bee swarm with a queen bee. For collecting honey, 11–12 frames are standardly placed in a box. With one such frame you can download about 1.5-2 kg of products. This means that up to 18 kg of a unique honey delicacy is collected in one ordinary hive. But when downloading honey, beekeepers don't often manage to get that amount of honey. So, as insects plentifully fill the middle of the honeycomb, and the outermost cells are left half full. Therefore, from one hive it is possible to get 13-14 kg of honey products.
Frame with bees During the hot or rainy season , the amount of honey from one family does not even reach that coefficient. Bees diligently collect nectar, but with a small number of honey plants, time is spent more, and the cells fill up more slowly. In such situations, with one pumping yield 7-10 kg.
Medosbor - the main occupation of bees .All efforts of the bee colony are aimed at collecting nectar and further preparation of honey products. Each individual of the family has certain functions, but despite this, their common goal is honey.
