Bees work hard and they therefore need substantial and good food. 

 

If you see a bee flying around in the garden on a beautiful summer day, rest assured it is working.

 

It collects nectar from flowers and takes along pollen at the same time.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Nectar is a sweet juice found in flourishing flowers. Bees crawl deep into the flower to suck a little bit of juice and store it in their honey stomach.  They do this hundreds of times in a row, each time in a different flower.  They then fly back to their hive and give the nectar to other worker bees,  Which put the nectar in the cells. But there is still too much water in the nectar. To evaporate the water the bees flap their wings so as to generate a hot wind.  The nectar thus dries out and becomes honey.  The bees then close each cell with a wax lid to preserve the honey until they need it.

 

 

Pollen is also found in flowers. It is a kind of fine powder that is very nutritious.  Bees have short hair everywhere on their bodies.  When they crawl deep into a flower, this fine powder sticks to their hair. 

 

They use their legs to sweep this powder together and chew on it so that it becomes a pellet.  They store these pellets in a special ‘basket’ on their hind legs while flying back so as to avoid losing them.  When they return to the hive, the pollen is also put in the cells.

 

Bees also need water. They gather water in the same manner as nectar and bring it to the hive. They do this, for example, when it becomes too hot in their hive.  They evaporate the cool water once again by flapping their wings, and it becomes a bit cooler in the hive.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Bee bread  The bees themselves eat a lot of honey and pollen to be strong enough for their hard work.  Sometimes they fly back and forth up to 10 times a day and visit hundreds of flowers with each flight.

 

The young bees are also fed well.  They are fed a mixture of nectar, water and pollen to grow quickly and to become strong. This mixture is called “bee bread”.

 

 

Propolis is another substance collected by bees.

 

This substance is fragrant and sticky.  It occurs on the leaf buds of some trees.  

 

Like pollen, propolis is also compacted into pellets on the hind legs.  Bees do not like draughts and loss of heat in their hive.

 

Propolis is therefore used to seal shut all slits and cracks of their hive.

 

Bees also use propolis to fasten the honeycombs in the hive.