Following the Sweet Path of Honey :: Bees Beehives Papers

sideline the Sweet Path of H unmatchableyA bee alights upon a flower, having been attracted to it by the sug atomic number 18d smell of nectar. Knowing of the plants readiness to release nectar, the bee begins to extract the sugary affectionateness and stores it away in a stomach pouch along with the other nectar it has collected for the day. This is save the first step in a complex process that brings honey to our tables. In fact, it will take oer two hundred days and trips to over eight hundred cat valium flowers to produce a 35 ounce pot of honey. Honey is one of the few foods for which we still rely on a natural process, and it is the scarce one which relies on an insect. In a time when most foods argon processed and produced in labs, the honey industry still revolves around the rum alchemy and ability of the honeybee. The path from flower to table connects nature to groundbreaking production. It is a simple product with complex connections and a fascinating proce ss.It both begins in a manmade beehive a multilevel contraption of boxes and screens that recreates the environs of a hive, but is designed to make removing excess honeycomb a more effectual procedure. A set of hives in the welkin looks more like abandoned dresser drawers than the site of flowerpot production. Despite its uncomplicated aesthetics though, the beehive is a very efficient factory. Honeybees be perfect models for division of labor. Within their society there are three very distinct categories, each with specific duties and functions. The Worker Bees are the active force behind the hive. These female honeybees gather the nectar and pollen, flux the larvae and pupae, supply water, secrete beeswax, build comb, and complete many other requirement tasks. In its lifetime this Worker Bee will produce only half(prenominal) a teaspoon of honey, but it will travel fifty-five thousand miles to do so (Dadant1). The Drone is the most expendable member of the colo ny. These males bees only exist to impregnate the Queen Bee. In the winter months when the hive thins taboo due to the ceasing of honey production, it is mostly the Drones who are forced to leave and shortly perish (Dadant 2).The center of reproduction in the colony is the Queen Bee.