Honey is concentrated and partially broken down nectar and pollen which has been collected from flowers. The honeybee workers collect nectar and return to hive. There, the nectar fluid is regurgitated among workers to partially digest these materials. Workers also collect honeydew (excretory fluid from aphids and other plant-feeding insects) and use it to make honey. Eventually the fluid is regurgitated into cells in the hive where the solution is concentrated by bees fanning their wings, forcing water to evaporate from the mixture. Once this mixture is concentrated to approximately 80% sugar, the cell is sealed with beeswax for future use by the bees. Bees secrete beeswax from glands on the bottom of the abdomen.

A well-managed hive can collect and store up to 400 pounds of honey in a single season, and since the colony usually requires about 50 pounds to survive the winter, 350 lbs may be available for the beekeeper. The honeybee is also a domesticated insect in the sense that colonies can be managed for production of a desired crop, but honeybees will survive in the wild without human intervention. Alfalfa, citrus, cotton, and clover are the most common plant sources used by bees for honey that is harvested by humans.

Recently bees have been dying mysteriously, leading to higher honey prices.