The answer to whether the queen bee makes honey is simple: no. The queen bee’s role is entirely devoted to reproduction, making her the reproductive center of the colony. Her physiology is specialized for this singular purpose, leaving the task of producing the colony’s food supply to the worker bees. This strict division of labor is a hallmark of the honeybee colony’s efficient social structure.
The Queen’s Singular Role in the Hive
The queen bee’s primary function is mass egg production, not physical labor. During peak season, a healthy queen can lay between 1,500 and 2,000 eggs per day, demanding nearly all her energy. She is constantly attended to by a retinue of worker bees who feed, clean, and groom her, eliminating the need for her to forage or perform hive maintenance.
The queen also acts as the colony’s chemical regulator by releasing pheromones. The most significant is Queen Mandibular Pheromone (QMP), distributed by the attending worker bees. This chemical signal suppresses the reproductive capabilities of female worker bees, preventing them from laying eggs. It also influences worker behavior, such as stimulating foraging and regulating the construction of queen cells.
The Worker Bee: The True Honey Maker
Honey production is the domain of the female worker bees, who make up the majority of the colony. They exhibit a specialized division of labor that changes as they age, transitioning from “house bees” to “forager bees.” Younger house bees are responsible for processing the nectar brought back to the hive.
The worker bee’s anatomy is adapted for honey production, featuring a specialized organ called the honey stomach, or crop, separate from her digestive stomach. This crop stores nectar and begins the initial chemical conversion. Worker bees also secrete the enzyme invertase, which transforms the complex sugars in nectar. Additionally, certain younger workers secrete the beeswax needed to build and cap the honeycomb cells where the finished product is stored.
Honey: How Nectar Becomes the Finished Product
The process begins when forager bees collect nectar, a sugary liquid secreted by flowers, using their proboscis. They store the nectar in their honey stomach, where it mixes with enzymes like invertase, starting to break down sucrose into simpler sugars (glucose and fructose). A forager returns to the hive and regurgitates the partially-processed nectar, passing it to a house bee.
This exchange, known as trophallaxis, continues as the nectar is passed from bee to bee, enriching it with enzymes and reducing its water content. The nectar is then deposited into the hexagonal beeswax cells of the comb, but it is still watery, containing around 70% moisture. To complete the transformation, house bees vigorously fan their wings over the open cells, creating airflow that evaporates the excess water.
Fanning continues until the moisture content is reduced to approximately 18%, concentrating the sugars into the thick, viscous substance known as honey. Once the honey reaches the correct consistency, the workers cap the cell with a layer of beeswax. This capping seals the ripened honey, preserving it as a stable, long-term food source for the colony.