The main use for honey is as food for the bees in winter and as there can be up to 10,000 bees in a hive there is obviously no time to waste. During the summer months, bees visit flowers to collect nectar. As the burrow into the flower to reach the nectar, pollen sticks to their legs. When they go on to the next flower, the pollen falls into it and helps fertilize the seeds. Some flowers, like clover, lime blossom and heather, are good sources for nectar. The nectar and pollen are stored in hexagonal (six-sided) cells. Together, these cells make up a honeycomb. In  winter, the sealed  cells are freed of their thin covering and the honey is eaten by the bees. This food, rich in energy, is essential to enable the bees to keep the temperature of the hive constant. They do this by vibrating their wings or the temperature of the hive constant. They do this by vibrating their wings or their bodies very fast. In this way the eggs, or larvae, are kept alive. The colder it is outside, the more they have to beat their wings and the more honey has to be consumed. A bee keeper, who collects honey is summer, gives his bees sweetened water before the cold weather starts.
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