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Honey

Honey is made in the beehive. Bees may travel as far as 80,000 km and visit more than two million flowers to gather enough nectar to make just one large jar of honey.

The colour and flavour of honey changes, depending on what flowers they have been visiting. Some honeys are dark brown, and some are a light creamy colour. Honey can be solid, so you spread it with a knife, or it can be liquid, so you pour it with a spoon. You can also buy comb honey, which is still in the wax honeycomb made by the bees. You can eat both the honey and the wax!

Why do bees make honey?

We know that bees have been making honey for at least 150 million years. Bees make honey to store food for the hive during the long months of winter when flowers aren't blooming and they can't get enough nectar to live on. Honey bees make far more than the hive can eat, so we can take what is left over.

A person who keeps bees, and collects their honey, is called an apiarist. Why do you think he is wearing that strange clothing as he lifts out part of the hive?

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