Hive Update: Setting Up the Payoff

Comment by AnnelidaFilms on June 21, 2013 at 10:36pm

@blanch: you are my SuperHero ;)

And Monsanto bats its "innocent" corporate eyes and claims no responsibility.

Comment by NatureJunkie on June 30, 2013 at 9:39pm

I don't know how I missed this for two weeks! I'm so enjoying this series.

I have two new questions for you. (Sorry. For a nature junkie, I know precious little about bees.)

1.) What exactly is honey? Someone told me once that it's literally bee excrement (he was trying to gross me out, but I wasn't fazed. I'm not too proud to eat shit.) But you have made more than one reference to the bees eating it. Are bees, to borrow one of Chig's euphemistic phrases, "recyclers?"

2.) When I see jars of specialty honey for sale, it's often labeled as lavender honey or rosemary honey or clover honey or some-other-kind-of-flower-honey. How do the beekeepers know for sure what kind of pollen is being gathered?

Comment by AnnelidaFilms on July 2, 2013 at 8:28pm

Hi NJ - being a Junkie doesn't make you all-knowing.  It can be more like all-interested.

Honey is more like bee barf, actually.  Bees gather nectar - the sweet liquid produced by flowers - and carry it back to the hive in internal sacks where they transfer it to other bees who then store it into honeycomb cells.  Then the bees fan the nectar with their wings until it evaporates to less that 20% water, which is honey.  Then they cap the cell with wax to save it as their food supply (very important for the long winter haul).  By coming in such intimate contact with the bees' innards, the nectar becomes chock full of enzymes.  When honey is harvested and cooked by silly humans, the enzymes are broken down and the honey loses its ability to ward off bacteria, mold, and fungi, so if you want healthy honey, get the raw stuff.

I'm told people can tell the difference in flavor between the various types of honey; I can't.  But each of the honeys (honies?) has different properties.  Beekeepers know - to a degree - what their girls are harvesting.  If bees have enough flowers to forage, they stick to about a one mile radius from the hive, maximizing their own honey production.  Beekeepers should know what the predominant flower is in that area.  We're in farm country, and many hives exist mostly on blueberry, strawberry, or lavender crops.

(Wow - I actually sound like I know what I'm talking about!)

Comment by NatureJunkie on July 4, 2013 at 1:56pm

This is all really interesting. Some friends of mine came back from a vacation last year where they'd bought different kinds of honey from keepers along their way. They had me taste tiny spoonfuls from different jars, and I could definitely tell that there was a slight difference in flavor from jar to jar. But not enough that I would say one was a favorite over another. It's all good!

It's been a while since I've bought any honey because it has become rather expensive, at least in my area. But I think you've inspired me to pick out a nice jar and treat myself again.

Comment by JohnAintWright on August 13, 2013 at 11:34am

this video is very cool. I hope to one day become a bee keeper

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