The endless efforts and work of honey bees to make the delicious honey takes some of their lives. But, how long does it take for them to complete it so that they can enjoy it and so can we? Let’s look at that. But firstly, let’s look at how the honey bees make the honey.
Don’t worry, I’ll shorten it up and write it simply, so it is easy and exciting for you to understand! Although I believe everything about bees is just so fascinating and interesting to read, don’t you?
Source: pixabay
Learn how to save a bee that cannot fly.
How do Honey Bees make Honey?
Their whole lives are just basically making honey, especially the honey bees that are born in the summer. They’re born, and the minute they turn into adults, which is pretty quick, they start their jobs making honey, some even die working! Lucky for us human beings, we don’t have to start the minute we’re born. Although we do start our jobs once we become an adult, so…
On the other hand, the honey bees born in winter are lucky, they don’t have to start immediately as they already have the honey stored, and it isn’t honey making time yet! Okay, let’s get to the honey-making process. The honey bees start their search for the nectar, going from flower to flower, and sucking it out from their tongue-like tongues, which is called the proboscis.
Learn about when do bees swarm time of year?
Once it is sucked out from the flower, part of it goes in their usual tummy – for their own selves and their body – and the rest of it goes in their honey tummy – a pouch to store the honey. And they make their way back to their hive! Once they are back at the hive, the second step starts. The nectar is sucked out of the honey stomach by other worker bees (back at the hive), and they will chew it for around half an hour.
Why do they chew it? To convert it to honey. How do they do that? They have enzymes produced in them that are mixed with the nectar, and its Ph and chemical compositions begin to change. And that is how honey is made! Moving on, the bees will drop the honey they made into the honeycomb. Familiar with the term honeycomb? Surely, you must have heard it.
Even if you haven’t, don’t worry, we’re here to tell you! Honeycomb is hexagonal, thin-walled cells that are made from beeswax by the honey bees. Amazing. This step is repeated until the honeycomb is full, and now on to the next step. The honey bees start to dry the honey as the nectar and enzyme mixture has too much water in it.
And in order to dehydrate it, they start fanning their wings over the honey at the right speed and for the right amount of time until the water is evaporated. You know how much the water content decreases? From 70% to 20%! The next and the last step – capping the honey.
Now, the honey bees need to keep the honey stored for a long time without it spoiling it so that they can enjoy it through the winter – and hopefully, for us too – and so, they cap the honey by a thin layer of the wax. And voila, there you have it – that is how the honey is made.
Now, let’s move further.
Do you know about the ages of bees and how long they live?
How long does it take for honey bees to make honey?
If you’re reading this article, you probably are a beekeeper, and that, too, a new one. Ready to harvest your first honey – pretty exciting! You must have spent countless hours researching on it, getting the right things, finding the perfect location for your beehive, and so much more. And now, the question arises – how long does it take?
On the other hand, you may be someone who isn’t a beekeeper but is genuinely curious to know more about honey, thus leading you here – something I would do too. After all, honey bees are interesting. Back to the question, the short answer to it is that it will take around 4 to 6 months. But, a lot of factors influence this, and it may be the case that it takes longer or shorter depending on the elements.
Beekeepers, do not keep your expectations too high! And it is best not to harvest the honey until its second season. The first year of a bee colony will probably be spent on setting and establishing the hive, and the honey they will be producing might not be enough for you to take. So, it is unlikely that you will harvest any honey in your first season of beekeeping.
If you do take it, the honey bee may face losses as they will need the honey to survive through the winter. However, some beekeepers are lucky enough that their beehive produces enough honey but don’t get your hopes up and don’t be disappointed if you don’t harvest either. Furthermore, there are a few things that will determine your honey production.
1-The health of your hive
If your hive has a strong queen with a good number of the bee population, you do not need to worry much. But that does not mean you don’t need to worry! You need to look out for swarms that occur as the population of your hive grows.
If it occurs during a honey flow, the productivity will decrease as your colony will split. You also need to look out for any diseases and make sure you cut down on the pesticides so that the purity of your honey isn’t affected.
2-Availability of flowers
As mentioned in the honey-making process, first the honey bees forage within a four-mile radius, in search for nectar from flowers. And so, to ensure that your honey is yummy and healthy, you need to make sure that you choose the location very wisely, where your bees can easily access numerous flowers. And those flowers need to have nectar in them as well, so you can ease up their tough jobs!
3-The space in the hive
You should draw combs when there is a honey flow, this will affect your production. Bees only create beeswax when there is a need for it. And the honey flow creates that and stimulates their wax glands.
Do you know about the bees and their fear and how can they really smell it?
How long does it take to establish a new beehive?
It requires at least 3 to 5 months to become well established. Like I said before, do not expect to harvest your honey in the first season.
How long does it take bees to make honeycomb?
It can take the honey bees anywhere around 7 days to 2 months to produce honeycomb and fill it with honey. A robust and healthy colony may fill it in 3 days or even 24 hours!
However, different factors affect this:
- Size of the honeycomb
- Bee population
- Amount of nectar
How long does it take the nectar to turn into honey?
Now that you know that they chew the nectar in their mouth while it mixes with an enzyme to convert to honey, let me tell you how long it takes.
It will usually only take a couple of days to do it, especially if there is a heavy honey flow.
When to harvest the honey?
As I previously stressed on it as well, do not harvest in the first season and let them use the honey to survive through the winter. However, after your beehive has established and produces enough surplus honey, you may start your harvest. If the frames are around 80% capped honey, that is the right time to harvest.
But if you want to harvest the uncapped honey, turn the frame upside down to check if it is leaking or not. If it is, it is not ready yet to be harvested. If you harvest too soon, you may risk your bees not producing any more for the season, and so it is better to wait for a while before you do so. Harvesting is usually done during early fall or late summer.
You can add more space for the honey bee to store more honey. Usually, beekeepers harvest honey two times per season, but as you may already know from this, various factors are affecting various things. And so, it is better to keep an eye on your beehive and know the best time to harvest. And for that, you can research more on it to be entirely sure.
And that’s the end
I hope all you beekeepers are satisfied with the information that has been provided. And for the people who were just reading it out of curiosity, I hope you enjoyed it as much as I enjoyed writing it. Bees are indeed fascinating creatures and continue to amaze us.
References:
