Bees absolutely collect nectar from flowers; this sugary fluid is the foundation of their energy source. Nectar is a sweet, water-based secretion produced by glands within the flower, known as nectaries, as an incentive for pollinators. This liquid is primarily composed of sucrose, glucose, and fructose, serving as the raw material bees convert into their primary food reserve. The collection and transformation process fuels the colony’s survival.
Nectar vs. Pollen: Defining the Resources
Bees forage for two distinct resources from flowers that serve completely different purposes for the colony. Nectar is the colony’s carbohydrate source, providing the high-energy fuel necessary for adult bees to fly, regulate hive temperature, and perform physical labor. This liquid is the sole ingredient for honey, which functions as the long-term energy reserve for the hive, particularly during winter.
Pollen, in contrast, is the colony’s source of protein, fats, vitamins, and minerals. This fine, powdery substance is mixed with nectar to create “bee bread,” the primary food fed to developing larvae. Nectar is the energy for the adults, while pollen is the building block for the next generation.
How Bees Collect Nectar
Foraging bees use specialized mouthparts to efficiently extract the sugary liquid from the base of a flower. The bee uses its proboscis, a long, flexible, straw-like tongue, to lap up the nectar from the nectaries. The bee visits hundreds of individual flowers to fill its internal storage organ, the honey crop.
This honey crop, often called the honey stomach, is a specialized sac separate from the bee’s digestive stomach. It acts solely as a transport vessel to carry the collected nectar back to the hive without being digested. A single foraging bee can carry a nectar load almost equivalent to half its own body weight on the return flight.
The Transformation of Nectar into Honey
Once the forager returns, the nectar is passed to a house bee through a mouth-to-mouth transfer called trophallaxis. This initiates the chemical conversion of the nectar into honey. The house bee adds an enzyme, notably invertase, which breaks down the complex sugar sucrose into the simpler sugars, glucose and fructose.
The partially processed nectar is then repeatedly regurgitated and passed among multiple bees, continuing the enzymatic activity. To ensure the final product is stable for long-term storage, the water content must be reduced from the original 70–80%. Bees achieve this by depositing the nectar into honeycomb cells and rapidly fanning their wings to create airflow. This evaporation removes excess moisture until the water content is below 20%, which prevents fermentation and completes the creation of honey.
The Symbiotic Exchange: Why Flowers Offer Nectar
From the plant’s perspective, producing nectar is an investment with a biological payoff. The sugary liquid is offered as a bribe to manipulate the bee’s behavior. When the bee delves into the flower to reach the nectar, it brushes against the anthers, the male reproductive parts, and pollen grains stick to its body.
As the bee flies to the next flower of the same species for another reward, it unintentionally transfers this pollen to the stigma, the female reproductive part. This transfer facilitates pollination, the reproductive act for the plant. The flower exchanges sugar for the reproductive certainty provided by the bee’s transport service.