How Do Bees Make Honey?
A short science text about how bees turn nectar into honey, with eight questions on explaining and working things out.
Read the passage
Collecting nectar
A honey bee starts with nectar, a sweet liquid inside flowers. The bee uses its long, straw-like tongue to suck up the nectar and store it in a special honey stomach. This is separate from the stomach where the bee digests its own food. A bee may visit dozens or even hundreds of flowers on a single trip. While it drinks, powdery pollen sticks to its body. When the bee lands on the next flower, some of the pollen rubs off, which helps that flower make seeds.
Back at the hive
When its honey stomach is full, the bee flies back to the hive. A hive can hold tens of thousands of bees, and every worker has a job to do. The bee passes the nectar to another worker bee, mouth to mouth. This bee chews the nectar for a while and adds special enzymes. The enzymes change the nectar’s sugars, which helps turn it into honey.
Drying it out
Nectar is mostly water, so it is too runny to store. The bees spread it into the wax cells of the honeycomb. Then they fan their wings over it to blow air across the cells. As the water evaporates, the nectar becomes thick and sticky.
Sealing the cells
When the honey is thick enough, the bees cover each cell with a lid of wax. Sealed honey can stay safe in the hive all winter, when there are few flowers. A single worker bee makes less than one teaspoon of honey in her whole life, so careful beekeepers take only the extra honey and leave enough for the bees to eat.
Answer the questions
- What is nectar, according to the text? (1 point)
- Where does a bee keep the nectar while it flies back to the hive? (1 point)
- The text says, “As the water evaporates, the nectar becomes thick and sticky.” What do you think “evaporates” means? Use clues from the sentence. (2 points)
- Why do you think the bees fan their wings over the honeycomb cells? (2 points)
- The text says nectar is “too runny to store.” Why do you think thick honey is easier to store? (2 points)
- The text says sealed honey can stay safe “all winter, when there are few flowers.” Why does this matter to the bees? (2 points)
- Number these steps 1 to 4 in the order they happen. (2 points)• Bees fan their wings over the honeycomb.• A bee collects nectar from flowers.• Bees seal the cells with wax.• A worker bee adds enzymes to the nectar.
- Write one or two sentences that tell the main idea of the text. (2 points)
Answer key for parents and teachers
1. A sweet liquid inside flowers. (1 point)
Finding information (RI.4.1). A key term defined at the start of the text.
2. In its honey stomach. (1 point)
Finding information (RI.4.1). Finding where something is stored, stated directly in the text.
3. The water dries up or goes into the air, because the nectar gets thicker as it leaves. (2 points)
Word meaning (RI.4.4). The word is never defined. The child works out the meaning from what happens to the nectar.
4. The moving air helps the water dry out of the nectar so it becomes thick like honey. (2 points)
Inference (RI.4.1). The text says what the bees do and what happens next. The child joins the two to explain why.
5. Thick honey with less water will not spill or spoil as easily, so it can stay safe for a long time. (2 points)
Inference (RI.4.1). A reasoned guess that uses the clue in the text.
6. In winter the bees cannot find nectar, so they need the stored honey for food. (2 points)
Inference (RI.4.1). Working out the reason behind a fact that the text states but does not explain.
7. 1. A bee collects nectar from flowers. 2. A worker bee adds enzymes to the nectar. 3. Bees fan their wings over the honeycomb. 4. Bees seal the cells with wax. (2 points)
Sequencing events. Following a process from start to finish.
8. One point for saying bees collect nectar and bring it to the hive; one for saying they turn it into thick honey by adding enzymes and drying it, then seal it in wax. (2 points)
Summarizing (RI.4.2). Pulling the main idea out of four sections.
What this practices
Finding information (RI.4.1), Word meaning (RI.4.4), Inference (RI.4.1), Sequencing events, Summarizing (RI.4.2). The codes in brackets are Common Core State Standards for English Language Arts (reading). Standards vary by state, so check what your child's school uses. Points and answers are a guide: accept any sensible answer that is backed up by the text.
Now try the writing task
Imagine you are a worker bee. Write about your busiest day.
Aim for eight to twelve sentences. Read it back aloud together and fix anything that does not sound right.
Want feedback on your child's own writing?
You mark the worksheet yourself with the answer key. LiteracyLab AI is different: it reads what your child has written and gives specific feedback, such as what worked, one thing to try next, and a corrected version, matched to their grade. The Free plan includes 3 pieces a month and needs no card.
More Grade 4 worksheets
Free to print and copy for your own family or classroom. Please do not sell or republish. The passage and questions were written for LiteracyLab AI.