Do Bees Eat Their Own Honey?

Do buzzing bees feast on their sweet honey? The inside buzz: bees especially eat honey to survive lean times when flower nectar runs scarce, like freezing winters or before swarming the hive. Safe for beekeepers to harvest excess.

Key Takeaways

• Bees eat the honey they produce to survive tough situations
• Honey is bee fuel for winter, pre-swarming, and emergencies
• Harvesting honey is fine if enough remains for winter bee food

Comparison Table

Do bees eat the honey they worked hard to make?

We all love honey for its sweet taste and health benefits, but what about the bees that make it - do they get to enjoy their product too? As it turns out, honeybees do indeed feast on their honey stores, primarily to survive harsh weather and fuel difficult processes like swarming.

Executive Summary:

• Honeybees feast on nectar and pollen in the warmer months and rely on stores of honey to make it through the winter.
• Honeybees typically consume honey in colder months, when they are about to swarm, and in emergencies.
• Taking honey from hives will generally not harm the bees as long as they are left with enough honey to get them through the winter.

Do Bees Eat Their Own Honey?

We all love honey. It’s sweet, sticky, and delicious, and it provides various nutrients to support overall wellness. 

But what about honey bees — do they eat the honey they make? How does that work? And is it harmful to take honey from the bees if they need it for food? 

In this article, we take a look at everything you need to know about whether or not bees actually eat their own honey. Let's dive in! 

Do Bees Really Eat Honey?

The short answer is yes! Bees eat honey. Well, at least honeybees do.

• Think of a hive’s honey stores as a pantry for bees. The bees produce honey throughout the warmer months and then store it in a honeycomb for winter like humans canning their fruit and veggies harvest for cold weather use.

This makes a lot of sense when you think about it.

• During the warmer months, bees feast on fresh nectar and pollen from flowers. However, once the colder, darker months hit, there typically aren’t any flowers around.
• Without the hive full of nutritious honey, the bees wouldn't survive.

Instead, they plan for tomorrow by storing as much food as possible. These honey stores help the bees make it through the winter, plus any emergencies that might pop up. 

How Do Bees Make Honey?

Honey bees collect nectar from flowers and then process it using a special enzyme in their digestive systems. This enzyme helps turn the nectar into honey.

• Once the nectar is processed, it’s placed in a honeycomb. Then, worker bees flap their wings to create a warm breeze that cures and dries the honey.
• Over time, this drying process reduces the nectar’s water content, resulting in thick, delicious honey.
• Once the honey is complete, the bees use beeswax to cap off the honeycomb and store the honey until needed.   

When Do Bees Typically Eat Honey?

Honey bees don’t eat honey all the time. Typically, they’ll stick with feeding on nectar and pollen during the warmer months when food is abundant. 

To bees, honey is more of a long-term storage item or a source of emergency food, only to be used in certain circumstances.

So let’s talk about when bees do eat honey.

During Winter 

The coldest months of the year can be hard on the honey bees. Food is scarce in the landscape, with most sources of nectar going dormant or dying in the cold. Plus, there’s the cold weather itself for the bees to contend with.

Did you know honey bees form what’s called a winter cluster? When the temperature drops to around 57 degrees Fahrenheit, all the remaining worker bees gather around the queen bee and vibrate their bodies. This creates a bubble of warmth that keeps the queen and the rest of the colony alive.

• Within the center of a winter cluster, we'll find the queen bee. This area of the cluster is typically kept between 90 to 97 degrees Fahrenheit.
• In a winter cluster, the whole hive works together for one purpose: Staying warm and staying alive.

The worker bees put in a lot of hard work for the hive’s survival in the coldest temperatures, so they need to stay fueled up. This means they begin to consume the honey stored in their honeycombs. 

Thankfully, honey is packed with carbohydrates for energy, plus all the nutrients the bees need to make it through winter.

When They’re About To Swarm 

The typical honeybee hive houses tens of thousands of bees, and can even surpass 100,000 bees at the peak of the warm season. When the hive gets on the larger side, it can become overcrowded, prompting the bees to prepare to swarm.

• A swarm happens when the queen bee leaves the hive with 40 to 60% of the adult bees and intends on starting a new hive.
• The bees clump together in a ball, often around a tree branch. If you’ve ever seen a swarm of bees, it’s not a sight you’ll soon forget.

That said, swarming doesn’t usually happen all of a sudden — it’s generally planned in advance. Sometimes, the bees will eat from the original hive’s honey stores to fuel their move.

In Emergencies 

Finally, honeybees might use their honey stores during an emergency situation. 

For example, if their regular food sources become unavailable because of drought or other extreme weather. 

In this case, the bees might be willing to dip into their honey storage to survive. Yet, this won’t carry them through the long term, especially if the hive has strong numbers and many bees to support. 

Which Bees Eat Honey?

First, it’s important to remember that not all bees eat honey, only the ones that produce honey. There are over 20,000 kinds of bees in the world, and most don’t make or eat honey. It’s mostly honeybees that make honey, plus a few other varieties of bees, like tropical stingless bees from Australia. 

For our purposes, let’s just stick with honey bees and talk about which honeybees do and don’t eat honey:

• Worker bees: Female worker bees make up the vast majority of the hive’s numbers and are also the biggest honey consumers. Worker bees do everything from foraging nectar to guarding and maintaining the hive to caring for the queen and the colony’s young. They’re also responsible for keeping the queen warm in the winter cluster.
• Drone bees: These are male bees whose only purpose is to mate with the queen. They don’t contribute to the colony's work. Instead, they stick around the hive eating honey. Drone bees are only kept around seasonally to repopulate the hive.

The Queen Skips Honey for Royal Jelly

The queen bee is exclusively fed royal jelly. 

Royal jelly is a milky glandular secretion made by worker bees, and it’s highly nutritious. 

It’s also fed to baby bee larvae during their first few days of life. Once a larva is chosen to become queen, she will also be fed royal jelly throughout her life. 

Is It Harmful To Take Honey From Bees?

Not necessarily.

The western honey bee produces far more than it needs to get through the colder months, which is why it's used for honey production.

Some companies still take all of the honey each harvest; whereas, at Manukora, we keep enough honey on the hives to get our buzzing friends through the winter.

Manukora's Approach to Ethical Beekeeping

At Manukora, we always leave plenty of honey for the bees to eat during winter. 

• This is just one way we practice The Art of Ethical Beekeeping, and it’s a set of practices we’re extremely proud to keep.    

Plus, we find that nature’s way of doing things is best, resulting in the most creamy and delicious honey imaginable. 

Summary  

• Honeybees eat the honey they make but typically save their honey stores for winter survival, swarming, or emergency purposes.
• The raw honey in the hive gives the bees all the nutrition they need to survive harsh situations, ensuring their survival to make more honey next year.

The quality and characteristics of honey vary depending on its source and processing. For instance, Manuka Honey MGO 600+ UMF 16 and Manuka Honey 20+ MGO 850 are examples of premium varieties, each with unique nutritional profiles.

These can be found amongst other trending products known for their exceptional quality. The color of Manuka honey, a vital attribute, is elaborately discussed in the Manuka Honey Color guide. For those curious about the differences between raw and pure honey, the Raw vs. Pure Honey article offers valuable insights.

Exploring Manukora's collections reveals a diverse range of honey products. Lastly, incorporating these unique honey types into your cooking can be an exciting adventure, and the Cooking with Manuka Honey tips provide great ideas for starting this journey.

Head here to check out the Manukora blog for more articles about bees and all things honey!

FAQs

What do bees eat?

Bees typically feast on nectar and pollen during warmer months, and consume their honey reserves in colder months.

Do bees eat honey?

Yes, bees eat their own honey especially during the winter, when they are about to swarm, and in emergencies.

What do bees use honey for?

Bees use honey primarily as their food source during the winter months, when other food sources are scarce.

Sources:

• Stingless bee honey, a novel source of trehalulose: a biologically active disaccharide with health benefits | Scientific Reports
• How many species of native bees are in the United States? | U.S. Geological Survey
• Beekeeping By the Numbers | American Bee Journal
• Winter Clusters Seen with Colors of Heat | American Bee Journal