The Bees

Once the first flowers begin to bloom, thousands of bees begin to leave the hive. Their colonies are taking on a new life force and starting the new harvest. Each bee spends about a third of its life collecting nectar, water, propolis and pollen for the hive. Before starting their duties, working bees perform other tasks necessary for the life of the colony: take care of the young bees, clean the hive, repair and build new waxes, store honey, maintain the ideal temperature, explore the surrounding area and protect the entrance. The worker bees, from 30,000 to 50,000 of them, are all women, but they do not lay eggs, as this task is actually fulfilled only by a special bee: the queen. Drones, the males of species found only in the colony during the summer, fertilize the queen bee in flight. The harvest of nectar, the main food of bees, is methodical and stable: the bee lands on a flower and absorbs the nectar. It goes from flower to flower until its prolobus is filled with nectar, a fixture that allows the transfer of nectar and water. The process continues methodically: when bees start harvesting good nectar, they do not let themselves distance themselves from other flowers. In the hive, a domestic bee waits for the bee collector, from which it collects the harvest. The nectar then passes from one bee to another (feeding) until it is stored in a cell in the waxes. At each feeding step it becomes more concentrated and enriched with enzymes. It will continue to mature inside the cell, thanks in part to the airy bees hitting their wings. These individuals have the task of keeping a constant temperature and keeping the moisture low in the blister so that the nectar that has already been processed can dry out and ripen to become honey. When the honey is ready, the bees seal the cell with a layer of wax to preserve their food for the winter.