How do bees get the nectar out of the flower? The mouthparts of
a honey bee are made up of mandibles and a proboscis, or tongue.
When the worker visits a flower, she brings forward the
proboscis which is normally tucked under her "chin" and inserts
it into the part of the flower where the nectar is. When she
locates nectar, the bee sucks until she has extracted all that
is within her reach. The nectar is stored in a honey sac, a
second stomach, until she returns to the hive. The nectar load
is transferred to worker bees in the hive who suck the nectar
from the honey sac through their proboscis. They work the
nectar, adding enzymes, until it is suitable for storing in a
cell of the honeycomb. Sources: Winston, Mark L. The Biology of
the Honey Bee.1987 Sammarato, Diana and Alphonse Avitabile. The
Beekeeper's Handbook, 3rd ed. 1998 Graham, Joe M., ed. The Hive
and the Honey Bee. 1992.