Jobs of a Worker Bee

The worker bee only lives for 5-6 weeks, but they are so busy during this time! In this short period, they will hold a variety of jobs that all contribute to the productivity of the hive.

After hatching, these insects will first be hive cleaners. They work to clear out their cell to make room for a new egg, as well as carrying out dead bees and dirt to make sure the hive is nice and tidy.

They then become nurse bees, helping to feed the larva and take care of the queen. While taking care of the queen, they become “attendants” and help to feed and clean her while she lays eggs. When they do this, they send out a special pheromone scent to alert the other workers that their queen is healthy.

After that, they become pollen packers, where their job is to neatly pack pollen into cells. They also work as wax masons, crafting the wax from the glands in their abdomen. They also contribute to temperature control in the hive, as well as collecting and storing water.

Soon after, these bees will become guards, where they sit at the entrance of the hive to watch for intruders or possible threats. If they see any, they will send out a pheromone scent to the rest of the hive to warn them.

At the end of their life, the workers will go out and forage for pollen and nectar, as well as turning the nectar into honey. When they make honey, they will use their long, straw-like tongue to suck up nectar into their honey stomach. In there, it will mix with a special enzyme and water. Once flown back to the hive, the bee will load this mixture into the honeycomb, then flutter their wings hard to dehydrate the honey down to the sticky substance that is honey!

Buzz buzz there is food over here

 Honeybees do not have ears, but they still communicate with each other. Honeybees communicate in two main ways; they use special chemical scents called pheromones and they also dance!

The queen honeybee gives off a pheromone, this causes all the honeybees in the beehive to smell the same. The pheromone from the queen honeybee helps the guard honeybees check that the honeybees that are coming into the beehive belong in that specific beehive. 

The honeybees also have a warning pheromone that the workers can produce. The warning pheromone tells the other honeybees that there is something dangerous around and then the honeybees will work together to get rid of the danger. 

Credit to Beetanical Apiary

Honeybees have a couple different dances that they use to tell the other honeybees many different things. The most famous of these dances is the waggle dance, this dance is used to communicate where there are food sources outside the beehive. When a honeybee comes back from collecting food, she will start moving in a figure eight and shaking her body back and forth. The direction of her shaking gives the other worker honeybees a map to the food source that she had just returned from.

Bee Thankful

Happy Thanksgiving! Here are two Thanksgiving recipes to try for your Thanksgiving feast.

Honey Glazed Carrots from Peggy Bell

Ingredients
-  10 to 12 sliced carrots
-  3 tablespoons butter
-  1 tablespoon brown sugar
-  2 tablespoons honey

Directions: Steam Carrots until just tender. Melt butter; add sugar and honey. Simmer for 2 minutes. Add carrots and cook on low, turning several times.

Pear Honey Cranberry Sauce from allrecipes.com 

Ingredients
-  1⁄2 cup water
-  1⁄2 cup white sugar
-  2 pears: peeled, cored, and diced
-  12 oz package of fresh or frozen cranberries
-  1 cup of honey
-  1 tablespoon of fresh lemon juice
-  1 teaspoon grated lemon zest

Directions
-  In a medium saucepan, stir together the water and sugar over medium-high heat.
-  Bring to a boil. Stir in pears, and reduce heat to medium. Cook, stirring frequently for 3 minutes, then stir in cranberries and honey. Continue to cook until cranberries pop and the mixture thickens slightly, about 5 minutes.

-  Remove from heat and stir in the lemon juice and lemon zest. Cool to room temperature, then store covered in the refrigerator for up to one week.

Honey from the Beehive to the Bottle

 Most people only ever see honey once it is in the bottle ready for you to purchase, but how does it get there? 

Honeybees on a frame of honey

The process starts from the beehive. When the beekeeper is ready to harvest the honey they will start the honey harvesting process. First the beekeeper will get as many of the honeybees off of the frames of honey as they can. Then the beekeeper will transport the frames of honey to the honey house. This is an area that is specifically set up to harvest the honey. 

Opening the honey

After all the frames of honey are moved into the honey house, the beekeeper will remove the cappings. When the honeybees make honey they put a layer of beeswax over the honey to protect the honey. To harvest the honey, that wax layer needs to be removed, this is usually done by a knife that is heated or a tool that looks like a comb that has sharp ends on it. 

Honey extractor from above

Once the honey is opened the frames are placed into a machine that is called an extractor. The extractor will spin very quickly causing the honey to be forced out of the honeycomb and onto the walls of the extractor. The honey will then flow to the bottom of the extractor where there is a valve to get the honey out. 

Bottling the honey

From the bottom of the extractor the honey will be placed into buckets. The buckets are then placed into the bottling bucket. This bucket has a valve at the bottom that can be placed over a bottle to fill it. After the bottle is filled with honey, it then is ready for to be purchased and used in your house!

National Honey Month

Happy National Honey Month! To celebrate, I encourage you to try these two recipes that use honey!

Lemonade Honey Punch from the National Honey Board

Ingredients
For Ginger Honey Syrup:
-  1 cup of honey 
-  5 thin slices of peeled ginger
-  1⁄2 cup of water

For Lemonade:
-  1 cup of freshly squeezed lemon juice
-  24 oz. apple juice
-  5 cups water
-  Lemon slices for serving

Directions: Simmer the Ginger Honey Syrup ingredients in a heavy saucepan for about 30 minutes, set aside to cool. Remove the ginger slices and discard. In a large pitcher combine the lemon juice, apple juice and water. Stir in the cooled Ginger Honey Syrup. Fill each glass with ice and the lemonade, garnish with a lemon slice.

Tip: To make your lemonade punch sparkling, substitute the water in the lemonade for club soda.

Honey-Lime Coleslaw from www.tasteofhome.com 

Ingredients
-  1 1⁄2 teaspoons of grated lime zest
-  1⁄4 cup lime juice
-  2 tablespoons of honey
-  1 minced garlic clove
-  1⁄2 teaspoon of salt
-  1⁄4 teaspoon of pepper
-  1⁄4 teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes
-  3 tablespoons canola oil
-  1 small head of red cabbage
-  1 cup of shredded carrots
-  2 thinly sliced green onions
-  1⁄2 cup fresh cilantro leaves

Directions
Whisk together the first 7 ingredients until smooth. Gradually whisk in oil until blended. Combine cabbage, carrots and green onions; toss with lime mixture to lightly coat. Refrigerate, covered, 2 hours. Sprinkle with cilantro.

National Honeybee Day

Mark your calendars for National Honeybee Day on August 17th! Honeybees do so much for us, so they have their own special day. 

There are some special ways to celebrate the honeybees on this day. One of the ways could be to meet a local beekeeper and learn why they started taking care of honeybees. Some beekeepers start taking care of honeybees because their family has been raising honeybees for many years. Others start beekeeping because they wanted to learn something new. Every beekeeper has a story!

Another way that you could celebrate the honeybees on this day would be to make a recipe that uses honey as an ingredient. One of my favorite recipes that uses honey is Honey Rhubarb Ice Cream. 

You could also check how many of the foods that you eat often come from plants that honeybees help pollinate. The National Honey Board also has a list of ways you can Help the Bees. 

Have a awesome time celebrating all the ways that honeybees help us each and every day!

Beeswax

Beeswax is what honeybees use to store honey, nectar, and pollen, as well as creating a place for the queen to lay her eggs. They have wax glands in their abdomens, so they secrete the wax out all over. Once it dries, they shake it off their abdomens and use their feet to form the hexagon pattern we see in honeycomb!

Humans find the wax useful as well. A beekeeper can take the empty comb, melt it down and filter it, then use in in a variety of ways. Some use it in candles because of its ability to melt and burn. Others use it in beauty products like lip balm or soap, because it has very moisturizing properties. Did you know that you can make a reusable alternative to plastic wrap using beeswax? By using fabric, melted beeswax, and pine rosin, you can make beeswax wraps.

No matter what you use it for, beeswax is a great resource!