Blogging through the Alphabet – Letter B

We are at the second letter in the alphabet. I must confess that for this letter my first thought was….

B is for Bee.

I can’t help it as bees occupying a lot of my life being a beekeeper with my insect obsessed daughter. We started keeping bees in 2014 and currently, we now have three beehives.

Thanks to my daughter I actually like bees now. They are just amazing creatures. In 2011 our journey began and let me tell you I was scared to death of bees. I was only aware of honey bees, bumble bees, and carpenter bees. They brought on a lot of fear as I was stung by a nest of wasp as a child and always assumed it was the honey bee. Then I learned about honey bees thanks to my Autistic daughter. I found out that it was the dreaded wasp that brings back those painful memories of being stung around 100 times.

Now for some amazing Bee facts:

*There are around 25,000 known species of bees in every part of the world except for Antarctica. In the United States around 4,000 species. They are still discovering more bees worldwide.  Who would have known that there are so many bee species?

*Honey Bee is also known as Apis Mellifera and is not native to North America. They are actually from Europe and brought over to America by the early settlers in early 1600s. Yikes, two months on the high seas with bees was said, “To be potentially hazardous” as stated in a letter written by the Virginia Company.

*The Honey Bee is the only insect that we humans raise for food and medicine.
  

*There are 7 verses about Bees in the Bible and 26 verses about honey.

*They pollinate 70 out of 100 crops which is 90% of the world’s food.

*A single Honey Bee only makes around 1/12^th of a teaspoon in its entire lifetime. For one pound of honey she will need to visit around 2,000,000 flowers. 

*In one hexagon cell of capped honeycomb it can contain the nectar of 1,000 flowers if it’s not in an exclusive crop area meant for pollination.

*A beehive is kept at a temperature of 95-96 degrees Fahrenheit year around regardless of the outside temperature.

*They beat their wings 200 beats per second.

*At the peak of summer after the spring build up there can be 60,000-80,000 bees in a colony.

My daughter is involved in 4-H Entomology and she made an educational box on honey bees and has given many presentation on honey bees with some of this information.

Products from the hive that bees make:

Honey
Honey is the honey bees year around food. There are many colors and flavors of honey. Honey is hydroscopic and has antibacterial qualities.

Pollen
 The Honeybee uses pollen as a food. Pollen is one of the richest and purest natural foods, consisting of up to 35% protein, carbohydrates, enzymes, 10% sugars, minerals, and vitamins A , B1 , B2, B3, B5, C, H, and R (rutine).

Beeswax
Beeswax is secreted from the bee’s glands to make beeswax for the honey comb. We use it for drugs, candles cosmetics, artists’ materials, furniture polish.

Propolis 

 The honeybees collect this from trees; it is a sticky resin that is mixed with wax to make a sticky glue. Bees use this to seal cracks and repair their hive. We use it as a health aid, and is used in fine wood varnishes.

Royal Jelly

The milky substance that makes an ordinary bee a Queen Bee. Royal Jelly is made of digested pollen and honey or nectar mixed with a chemical secreted from a gland in a nursing bee’s head. It is not cheap in price. It is used  as a dietary supplement,fertility stimulant, and a few other uses. It contains all of the B vitamins.

Bee Venom

I couldn’t imagine getting stung for medical purposes. The bees die once they sting. If you have ever experience being stung than you know that a bee sting causes swelling and itching. Some people are highly allergic to bee venom. It’s not unheard of to hear that a beekeeper who has been one for a long time to suddenly become allergic to bees after years of being stung repeatedly. “Bee venom therapy” is practiced overseas and some in the USA. It is believed to help arthritis, neuralgia, high blood pressure, high cholesterol and even MS.

What do you think of this amazing insect? Bees are pretty amazing insects.

Other bloggers have joined in Blogging through the Alphabet.  Annette and Amanda are hosting this on their blogs. Stop by and see what they are blogging about with the letter B. #abcblogging

For my other Blogging through the Alphabet post:

A is for Aleph