A honey bee visits many flowers in a single afternoon. As the bee crawls inside each flower to drink sweet nectar, tiny grains of yellow pollen stick to its legs and body. The bee carries this pollen back to the hive, where other bees use it to feed young bees.

Inside the hive, the bee passes the nectar to another bee, who chews it and adds special enzymes. Then the nectar is dropped into a small wax cell. Many bees fan the cell with their wings to dry the nectar into thick, golden honey. Finally, the bees seal each cell with a wax cap to keep the honey fresh. A single teaspoon of honey can take a hive thousands of flower visits to make.

Leaves are green most of the year because they are full of a chemical called chlorophyll. Chlorophyll helps leaves turn sunlight into food for the tree. As autumn days get shorter and colder, trees slow down and stop making new chlorophyll.

When the green chlorophyll fades, other colors that were always hidden inside the leaf finally show through. Yellows and oranges appear first. Cool nights and sunny days help produce bright reds and purples. Once all the colors are gone, the leaf turns brown, dries up, and falls to the ground. The fallen leaves feed the soil and help next spring’s new leaves grow tall.