Purchasing a bottle of pure honey off the shelves of your local grocery store seems simple.  Where does honey come from and how did it get to market?  Most interesting, is the essential role that bees play in the process of transforming plant nectar to honey.  Although it is not quite ready for supermarket shelves, “honey is the only food produced by insects that is eaten by humans.”  Completely understanding how honey is made takes a bit more explanation regarding the bee community, the metamorphosis of nectar to honey, seasonal changes and packing plants. Honeybees are one of the hardest working social communities in the world.  These social insects form populations called colonies.  There are three distinguishable social classes within a colony, including a queen, drones and worker bees.  The queen bee is the single fertile female that specializes in reproduction.  Up to 2000 eggs can be laid by a queen bee each day.  Drone bees, are male bees that specialize in the fertilization of the queen’s eggs.  Without any further use, the drone bee faces the shortest life span.  Drone bees are kicked out of the hive and left to die in the winter’s cold.  Worker bees are female bees and earn their name by graduation through six different jobs by the time they are three weeks old.  At this stage, a worker bee can collect nectar from up to 10,000 flowers a day.  Worker bees can only produce one teaspoon of honey in their lifetime, therefore the colony needs as many workers as possible.  A single colony can include more than 50,000 worker bees.  Honeybee teamwork is quite impressive.  Each member of the colony has a job.  By working together a single colony can produce 400-500 pounds of honey each year. Converting nectar to honey is a science the honeybee has perfected over the centuries.  Nectar can have an original moisture content of 80% when first taken from a flower.  Honey on the other hand, has a moisture content of 17-18%.  Honeybees reduce the moisture content in a two step process.  First, the bees pass the honey to each other removing moisture and adding enzymes.  Then, the mixture is placed into a cell in the comb of the hive.  Bees will collect around the cell and fan the mixture with their wings, further reducing the moisture content of the nectar.  After capping the cell with beeswax, the nectar matures into honey.  There are 300 distinguishable honey varieties that are produced solely in the United States.  The difference lies in the selection of flowers that the honeybees are collecting nectar from.   Each variety of honey possesses its own color, flavor and fragrance.  Honey is mainly a carbohydrate and water composition, but also contains a wide variety of vitamins, minerals, amino acids and antioxidants. Many challenges face honeybees and their beekeepers as the seasons pass.  Beginning in February, crops like almonds will need pollinating.  Beekeepers do their best to protect the hives during relocation, but it is impossible to contain the whole colony.  The bee colony will lose 5% of its population during the move.  Once the winter crops have been pollinated, queen bees begin doing what they do best, laying eggs.  Beekeepers are kept busy during this time, checking bee population levels, as well as checking the hives for parasites and diseases.  When spring arrives, there is literally a buzz in the air as the nectar begins to flow.  Worker bees perfect their directorial skills by practicing their circle or wag-tail dances.  These dances communicate the exact location of the most recent nectar discovery.  Busy work by the bees has led to a plentiful honey harvest taken in late spring.  Summer brings pollination of summer crops.  Honeybees are currently responsible for adding nearly 15 billion dollars to the U.S. Agricultural industry by taking on the responsibility of pollinating over 130 different crops.  Harvesting honey in the fall produces a second bountiful crop for the beekeepers.  As the honey is harvested, beekeepers are sure to check the hives a second time for parasites or diseases.  Beekeepers are careful to leave enough honey for the bees to survive the winter.  November through December, honeybees live off of their stored honey and pollen reserves.  Wrapping up each year, a beekeeper will prepare for the upcoming season by building more bee boxes, purchasing more honeybees, scheduling and gathering required beekeeping supplies. Packing is a necessary process in preparing honey for mass consumption.  Most honey packers purchase their honey from local beekeepers, while others harvest their own.  The honey will be slightly warmed, in order to completely liquefy it.  This allows the packers to pump and strain the honey for any impurities.  Once the honey is liquid, free of granulated crystals and clear, honey packers will bottle, label, package and ship the final product to retail and wholesale outlets.