蜜蜂如何酿蜜

蜜蜂虽小，却非常勤劳。一只工蜂整天在花朵间飞来飞去。它用长长的舌头吸取花朵里甜甜的汁液。这种甜汁叫作花蜜，蜜蜂把它存放在一个特别的胃里。

Honeybees are small, but they work very hard. A worker bee flies from flower to flower all day. It drinks the sweet juice from the flowers with its long tongue. This sweet juice is called nectar, and the bee keeps it in a special stomach.

回到蜂巢后，蜜蜂把花蜜交给其他蜜蜂。它们一口一口地传递花蜜，并从身体里加入一点点东西。接着，它们把花蜜放进小小的蜂蜡房间里。蜜蜂快速扇动翅膀把水分蒸发掉，花蜜慢慢变成浓稠的蜂蜜。

Back at the hive, the bee gives the nectar to other bees. They pass it from mouth to mouth and add a little something from their bodies. Then they put the nectar into small wax rooms. The bees move their wings fast to dry it, and slowly the nectar becomes thick honey.

蜂蜜准备好以后，蜜蜂用柔软的蜂蜡把每个小房间封起来。这些蜂蜜就是整个蜂群在寒冷冬天的食物。一只小蜜蜂一生只能酿出一小滴蜂蜜，所以蜜蜂们必须齐心协力，才能装满整个蜂巢。

When the honey is ready, the bees close each little room with a soft wax lid. The honey is now food for the whole hive in the cold winter. One small bee makes only a tiny drop in its life, so the bees must work together to fill the hive.