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How Do Bees Make Honey
Let's look at a worker bee (or field bee) to answer the question, how do bees make honey. We'll call him Buzzy. Buzzy and all the other worker/field bees leave the honeybee hive to gather nectar from flowers. They suck the nectar using a proboscis or a tube-like tongue. The nectar goes into the "honey stomach" of Buzzy and his friends. Then Buzzy and his friends buzz off to go back to the hive. A house bee--we'll call him Busy--and all the other house bees busily use their own proboscises to suck the nectar from the worker bees' honey stomachs. Busy and the rest of the house bees use enzymes in their mouths to change the nectar into unripe honey. This takes about 20 minutes in the process of answering the question, how do bees make honey. They put the unripe honey into hexagon-shaped cells in the beehive. The bees use their wings to create wind which helps the water in the honey evaporate. This ripens the honey. Busy and all the other busy bees can also draw drops of water out of the honey using their mouths. When the amount of water in the honey is reduced, the bees seal the honey in the cells with a layer of wax. That answers the question, how do bees make honey. And dinner's ready for Buzzy, Busy and the entire honeybee colony. Or maybe humans will harvest the honey. Some bee facts: > Buzzy weighs about 80 milligrams. > Buzzy will make about ten trips outside the hive every day. > Buzzy can fly 15 miles per hour. > Buzzy will travel an average of 1-1/2 miles on each trip. > Buzzy's life span during the summer is about 45 days. > The Queen Bee will lay up to 3,000 eggs every day. > Before all the little bees go to sleep at night, Buzzy and Busy take turns telling the beloved bedtime story, How Do Bees Make Honey. (Just kidding on this one.) Honey Mustard Chicken 6 chicken legs and thighs 1/4 cup dark mustard 1/2 cup honey 1 bell pepper, sliced corn oil 1 onion, chopped 2 cloves of garlic balsamic vinegar to taste salt and pepper Season skillet with oil and vinegar. Add onions and bell pepper and saute until tender. Remove from the skillet. Place chicken in skillet and add garlic. Cook, turning often. Mix honey and mustard together. Pour it over chicken, onion, and pepper. Brown in oven. Serve with rice. Aunt Arlene's Chicken Cacciatore 1 can tomatoes, drained 1 cup tomato paste 1-1/2 teaspoon oregano 1/2 teaspoon basil 1 tablespoon honey 1/4 cup chicken broth 3 cloves garlic, crushed 1 cup onion 1 medium green pepper 3/4 lb skinless chicken breast, cut in pieces 3/4 cup green peas 1 tablespoon balsamic vinegar Place drained tomatoes, tomato paste, oregano, basil, honey, pepper in 2-3 quart saucepan. Cover and simmer 15 minutes. Heat 4 tablespoons broth in large skillet. Stir fry garlic, onion, green pepper, and chicken for 10 minutes. Add chicken and green peppers to sauce and simmer partially covered 10 minutes. Add peas, balsamic vinegar and cook 5 more minutes. Serve.
Click for Honey & Vinegar Cucumber Salad and Sophia's Antipasto Salad and Spinach and Gazpacho Salad
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