How Sweet! The Flower to Jar Honey Process

The busy work of honeybees and experienced beekeepers shows up in jars on grocery aisles, gift stores, and local beekeeping boutiques. How does honey get from the flower and little bee-padded feet to decorative jars so we get to enjoy the sweet treat? The process from flower to jar is impressive. Although there are slight variations in process preferences, the overall flower-to-jar approach is mostly the same.

Honeybees Take Center Stage

Out of more than 20,000 bee species worldwide, only one bee gets the remarkable job of making honey. Honeybees live in colonies and live throughout the world. Beekeepers enjoy caring for honeybees and get a bonus from sweet honey production.

Honeybees begin collecting nectar from flowers on their legs and take it back to the hive. Inside the hive, nectar is stored inside beeswax hexagonal cells. After bees drop the nectar off, honeybees use their wings to fan the full cells, which creates a slight breeze that dries out the nectar and transforms it into honey. As the moisture level drops, the nectar becomes honey, and honeybees seal the cells with a layer of beeswax. The fact that bees can identify when the cells are ready to be sealed is amazing!

Honey's water content is low, and sugar content is high. For these reasons, honey cells must be sealed to stay bacteria-free and last for any length of time. It is incredible how successfully honeybees store their honey in tightly sealed beeswax cells so bacteria can’t grow. People are often surprised by how long honey lasts and never spoils, and that is because if it is sealed in a jar or other vessel, it will stay edible and delicious.

Beekeepers Take the Next Steps

Experienced beekeepers have a unique opportunity to harvest honey when they care for honeybees. Honey harvesting involves removing frames from inside the hive that are full of cells full of honey can capped with beeswax. Beekeepers gently scrape the caps off the cells, allowing the honey to be released as frames are put in the honey extractor machine. As the machine spins, honey comes out of the cell and collects at the bottom of the machine, which can then be drained and placed in jars and bottles.

Using the correct tools is essential when harvesting honey. Sharp objects should not be used to scrape the frames during honey extraction to avoid damage. It is strongly recommended that first-time honey extractors connect with other beekeepers throughout the process with any questions so the harvest process is successful and honeybees and their hives remain intact.

Hundreds of Honey Varieties

There are more than 300 varieties of honey in the United States alone! What makes the difference is the flower from which the honeybees collect the nectar. This is why many people choose to plant bee-friendly flowers in their gardens and then enjoy honey from their local beekeeper. Some people have choices in their honey varietals because honeybees extract nectar from multiple flowers. Orange blossom honey is made from the blossoms of orange trees, the most popular honey on both coasts.

Honey Making is Hard Work

Honeybee hives are home to 20,000 to 80,000 bees, which is good because making honey is hard work. It takes more than 1,000 honeybees to make a jar of honey. Bees may spend their entire lives only to make very small amounts individually. Honey is sweet, delicious, and labor-intensive!

So, the next time you enjoy some honey on oatmeal, a scone, or in your tea, make sure to thank the bees for all their work. If you are looking into getting some local honey for gifts or baking this Christmas season, contact D-Tek if you live in Southern California.

Bees are critical to honey-making and have essential roles in overall food production as they travel to pollinate crops across the nation. If you have honeybees in your area, consider it a good thing! If honeybees swarm, it means they are looking for a new home, so there is no need to bother them. Swarms naturally move on independently within a few hours and, at most, a day.