4.0 NATURAL HISTORY OF THE HONEYBEE
The candidate will be:
4.7 able to give a simple definition of nectar and a simple description of how it is collected, brought back to the hive and converted into honey;
NOTES
Nectar is a sugar rich liquid produced by plants.
Nectaries are generally found in the deepest part of the flower so that pollinating insects are enticed to brush past the male pollen and female stamen parts to reach the nectar food reward.
Bees fly to a foraging area that they have been directed to by the waggle dance of other foragers that indicates to them the course and direction.
Bees land on the flower and crawl to the nectaries where they draw the nectar through their mouth parts into a sac known as the honey stomach. The honey stomach has a valve that prevents the nectar passing through the gut of the insect. Bees will forage on a single type of plant until their honey stomach is full.
When they arrive back at the hive, the nectar is passed around other workers in the hive. Each bee exposes the nectar to the warm air of the hive on its tongue, reducing the water content by evaporation. These bees also produce an enzyme “invertase” that acts to break down the mainly sucrose (disaccharide) content of nectar into glucose and fructose (monsaccharides). The nectar is stored in cells above the brood nest and the heat of hive, and air circulation, evaporates more water from it, concentrating the sugars. When the honey has “ripened” to about 80% sugar the cell is capped with wax for storage.