7th Grade Science Student ebook

UNIT 5 STRUCTURE AND FUNCTION IN LIVING THINGS

They make honey in combs
How does the nectar of a flower become honey inside a
honeycomb? The worker bees drink the nectar from the
flowers and store it in honey sacs. Back at the hive, they
transfer the honey into cells inside the wax combs. A cell is a
hexagonal-shaped wax chamber used to store honey. All of
these cells together make up the honeycomb. The workers
must collect nectar from about 2 million flowers in order to
produce about 1 pound of honey.

Beekeepers and their hives
Beekeepers like Lauren’s father use smokers to calm their
bees before opening the hive.

Honeybees have an

alarm system that

goes off when they

smell smoke. They

fear their hive is

burning and they

act to save the

honey. They gorge

themselves on

honey and

afterward are less

likely to sting an

intruder. The

beekeepers can open

the hive boxes and

remove the

individual frames.

After careful

inspection, the

honey can be extracted

from the comb and processed.

Questions:

1. What would happen to a honeybee colony if there were no
   worker bees?


2. Why are honeybees called “social insects”?


3. Explain the importance of honeybee pollination.


4. How do flowers and honeybees benefit each other?

Chapter 14 Connection