Honey is one the oldest natural sweetner used by human beings since ancient times. Honey is made by Honey bees. It contains natural sugar proteins, iron and calcium and can be easily digested. It is used as a medicine to cure cough and sure throat. It is also a good anti – septic as it kills bacteria.

Honey – making is a complex process. Honey bees collect nectar from flowers mostly during spring season. They draw the nectar from the flowers through their long, tube like tongues. The nectar mixes with proteins and enzymes in the honey bees stomach and is converted into honey. Later the bees store the honey in the beehive in hexagonal cells made of bee – wax called honey – combs.

To store the honey for a long term, the honey – bees use their wings as a fan to dry up the water content in the nectar. Nectar has 80% water and honey has only about 14 – 18% water. When one of the honey combs gets filled up the bees close it with bee cap and then more on to another cell (honey comb). Therefore honey is nthing but nectar collected by the bees and regurgiated and dehydrated to enhance the nutriiional properties of honey.

There is an excellent example of division of labour among honey bees. They divide themselves in house bees and field bees.

Honey bees have a short life. They live only for a month. Around two – thousand bees die everyday in a hive. The queen bee only work is to lay eggs and maintain the population of the been – hive. Honey bees are very hard workers.