From nectar to honey

Nectar is a secretion containing sugar, and is available from the flowers of many plants. Honey-bees convert nectar to honey.

Honeydew refers to the sugary excretory products of insects, which live off the phloem sap of these plants. Bees also use honeydew to produce certain types of honey.

The nectar or honeydew is gathered by the bees in the honey sac (or honey stomach), mixed with saliva and secretions, thickened and fermented (by lactobacilli), and then stored in the honeycomb. When the maturation process is completed, the honeycomb cells are closed with a thin layer of wax and the honey is ready.

Honey is the bees’ energy supply and is an important foodstuff for humans, as well. It is therefore subject to quality control by veterinarians. Honey is obtained from the honeycomb by means of extraction, then it is filtered and stirred. One of the quality characteristics prescribed by laws relating to food processing and distribution is, for instance, a water content of less than 20 %, which is measured by a refractometer. The sensory assessment of the quality covers the color, consistency, smell and taste of the honey.