Band 9: You should spend 20 minutes on this task. The diagram below shows how honey is made in small-scale commercial production. Summarisetheinformationbyselectingandreportingthemainfeatures,andmakecomparisonswhererelevant. Write at least 150 words.

The diagram illustrates the process of small-scale commercial honey production, showing both the bee phase and the human phase.

Overall, honey production consists of two main stages: the natural process carried out by bees inside the hive and the subsequent processing stages performed by humans to prepare the honey for sale.

In the first stage, bees gather nectar from flowers and transport it back to the hive. The nectar is then deposited into honeycomb cells. After that, the bees dry the honey by fanning their wings, which helps reduce moisture content. Once the honey reaches the required consistency, the bees keep the cells clean and seal them with wax, completing the natural production phase.

The second stage begins when humans collect the honeycombs from the hive. These combs are pressed to extract raw honey, which is then transferred to a sump tank. The honey is heated to a temperature of between 45 and 50 degrees Celsius before passing through a sieve tank to remove impurities such as dirt. Following this, the honey is left in a settling tank for two to four days. Finally, the processed honey is poured into jars, ready for commercial distribution.