As a honey bee, Apis mellifera, feeds on a zinnia flower, the nectar is stored in a honey sac, which is separate from its digestive stomach, until she returns to the hive. When it is full, the honey sac weighs about one third the weight of the entire bee. After she delivers the nectar to an in-hive worker bee, the long process of converting it into honey, the bees’ food, begins. d4115-1, Beltsville, MD
