Write at least 150 words · 20 minutes
The diagram below shows how honey is produced and prepared for sale. Summarise the information by selecting and reporting the main features, and make comparisons where relevant.
- 1Bees collect nectar from flowers
- 2Nectar stored in honeycomb cells
- 3Bees seal cells with wax
- 4Beekeeper removes honeycomb frames
- 5Wax caps sliced off
- 6Honey spun out in an extractor
- 7Honey filtered to remove wax
- 8Honey poured into jars and labelled
How to structure your report
- Introduction: paraphrase what the process diagram shows.
- Overview: two or three main features or trends, with no numbers. This is the most important sentence for your band.
- Two body paragraphs: group the details logically and compare them, quoting the key figures.
- No opinion and no conclusion of your own: describe only what is shown.
A plan for this chart
- Introduction: paraphrase the diagram: how honey is produced and prepared for sale.
- Overview: eight stages in two phases: the first three done naturally by bees, the last five by the beekeeper.
- Body 1: the natural phase: collecting nectar, storing it in the honeycomb, sealing the cells with wax.
- Body 2: the beekeeper’s phase: removing frames, slicing off wax, spinning in an extractor, filtering, jarring and labelling.
Model report
175 words
The diagram illustrates the stages involved in producing honey and preparing it for sale.
Overall, the process consists of eight stages, which can be divided into two phases: the first three are carried out naturally by bees, while the remaining five are performed by the beekeeper to extract the honey and package it. Along the way, the product changes from nectar in a flower to honey in a labelled jar.
The first phase is carried out by the bees themselves. It begins when they collect nectar from flowers. This nectar is then stored in the individual cells of the honeycomb, after which the bees seal the cells with wax.
In the second phase, the beekeeper removes the honeycomb frames from the hive. The wax caps are sliced off the cells, and the honey is spun out of the comb in a machine called an extractor. After that, it is filtered to remove any remaining pieces of wax. Finally, the honey is poured into jars, which are then labelled so that they are ready for sale.
Written by Acedmi to show what a high-band report looks like. It is not an official IELTS sample, and your own ideas can be different.
Useful vocabulary
- nectar
- The sweet liquid that bees collect from flowers.
- “Bees collect nectar from flowers.”
- honeycomb
- The wax structure of small cells in which bees store honey.
- “The nectar is stored in the honeycomb.”
- seal
- Close something completely.
- “The bees seal the cells with wax.”
- beekeeper
- A person who keeps bees.
- “The beekeeper removes the frames.”
- extract / extractor
- Take out / a machine that takes something out.
- “The honey is spun out in an extractor.”
- filter
- Pass a liquid through something to remove solid pieces.
- “The honey is filtered to remove wax.”
- be divided into
- Be split into parts.
- “The process can be divided into two phases.”
- ready for sale
- Prepared to be sold.
- “The jars are labelled ready for sale.”
Common mistakes
- Using the active voice with people: "the beekeeper filters the honey" is fine once, but most stages read better in the passive: "the honey is filtered".
- Adding facts that are not in the diagram, such as how bees turn nectar into honey. Describe only the stages shown.
- Missing the overview. Say how many stages there are and how they divide into the bees’ part and the beekeeper’s part.