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Miscellaneous Bee Facts
- A single honey bee colony can produce more than 100 pounds (45 kg) of extra honey and this is what is harvested by the beekeeper.
- A colony of honey bees in early spring has 20,000-40,000 bees.
- A colony of honey bees in summer has 80-100,000 bees.
- A honeybee flies up to 24 km /hr or 15 mph and its wings beat 200 times per second or 12,000 beats / minute.
- A normal colony of honey bees contains only one QUEEN who may lay 1,000 plus eggs per day during her busy season.
- The majority of the hive is worker bees (female) with a few drones(male).
- A worker bee gathers in her entire life 0.8 gram (0.0288 ounce) of honey.
- It requires 556 worker bees to gather a pound of honey.
- Bees fly more than once around the world to gather a pound of honey.
- The average life of a honey bee during the working season is about six weeks.
- Bees use to be kept in a hive made of straw that was called a skep.
- There are five products that come from the hive. Honey, beeswax, pollen, propolis, and royal jelly.
- Honey is nature’s unrefined sweetener produced by the bees from the nectar of flowers.
- Beeswax is produced by the bees. It is a sweet smelling golden coloured wax. It has various uses including candles, cosmetics, polishes, etc.
- Pollen is gathered on the bee’s legs when they land on a flower for nectar. Pollen contains many nutrients, amino acids, minerals, vitamins and enzymes.
- Propolis is a sticky substance that bees produce from the buds of trees. The anti-bacterial properties in propolis, is why it is referred to as the medicine form the beehive.
- Royal Jelly is feed to a worker egg to produce a queen bee. It is said to have many cell rejuvenating properties.
Honey Facts
- For the same sweetening power replace 1 cup of sugar with 2/3 cup honey. It not only adds a wonderful flavour to baked goods and drinks but can cut calories because you need less.
- When cooking with honey reduce the oven temperature by 25 degrees F (15 degrees Celsius).
- Honey retains moisture and therefore, honey can add shelf life to baked goods and is an ideal ingredient for skin and hair beauty products.
- To re-liquefy honey that has become cloudy and granular, place the jar in a pan of hot water or gently heat in the microwave. Creamed honey can also be liquefied in this way for ease of use in cooking.
- Always store your honey at room temperature, in a dry place. Cover tightly to retain flavour and aroma, and to protect it from moisture absorption.
- Honey may be stored in the freezer, if well sealed, without any change in flavour or texture.
- Honey is 25% sweeter than sugar because of its high fructose content.
- Honey keeps almost indefinitely. Edible honey has been unearthed from Egyptian ruins.
- The floral source determines the colour and flavour of honey. The darker the honey, the stronger the flavour.
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