Fun bee facts « Thread Started on Oct 26, 2009, 9:38pm »
honeybees are wonderous creatures. Here are some facts about honeybees:
* The honeybee is not born knowing how to make honey; the *younger bees are taught* by the more experienced ones. * Some worker bees are *nurse bees*. Their job is to feed the larvae. * A honeybee visits between *50 and 100 flowers* during one collection flight from the hive. * In order to produce 1 pound of honey, *2 million flowers* must be visited. * A hive of bees must fly *55,000 miles* to produce a pound of honey. * One bee colony can produce *60 to 100 pounds* of honey per year. * An average worker bee makes only about *1/12 teaspoon* of honey in its lifetime. * At the peak of the honey-gathering season, a strong, healthy hive will have a population of approximately *50,000 bees*. * It would take approximately 1 ounce of honey to *fuel a bee's flight around the world*. * A Cornell University paper released in 2000 concluded that the direct value of honeybee pollination to U.S. agriculture is *$14.6 billion* annually. * We should appreciate honeybees for their honey and pollination services. *80% of the pollination* of the fruits, vegetables and seed crops in the U.S. is accomplished by honeybees. * Honey is the *primary food source* for the bee. The reason honeybees are so busy collecting nectar from flowers and blossoms is to make sufficient food stores for their colony over the winter months. The nectar is converted to honey by the honeybee and stored in the wax honeycomb. * The United States has an estimated 211,600 beekeepers. * Honeybees never sleep.
Honey is a fascinating, healthy, and natural substance. Here are some facts about honey:
* Honey contains *vitamins and antioxidants*, but is fat free, cholesterol free and sodium free! * Not a spinach lover? Eat honey - it has similar levels of *heart-healthy* antioxidants! * One antioxidant called "pinocembrin" is *only found in honey*. * For years, opera singers have used honey to boost their energy and *soothe their throats* before performances. * Honey is the only food that includes *all the substances necessary to sustain life*, including water. * Honey has the ability to attract and absorb moisture, which makes it remarkably *soothing for minor burns* and helps to prevent scarring. * Honey speeds the healing of open wounds and also *combats infection*. * As recently as the First World War, honey was being mixed with cod liver oil to *dress wounds* on the battlefield. * Modern science now acknowledges honey as an *anti-microbial agent*, which means it deters the growth of certain types of bacteria, yeast and molds. * Honey and beeswax form the basics of many *skin creams*, lipsticks, and hand lotions. * *Queen Anne* of England, in the early 1700's, invented a honey and olive oil preparation to keep her hair healthy and lustrous. * According to Dr. Paul Gold, a Professor of Psychology at the University of Virginia, "people *remember things* much better after they've consumed glucose, a form of sugar found in honey." * Honey is nature's *energy booster*! It provides a concentrated energy source that helps prevent fatigue and can boost athletic performance. * Recent studies have proven that athletes who took some honey before and after competing *recovered more quickly* than those who did not. * Honey supplies *2 stages of energy*. The glucose in honey is absorbed by the body quickly and gives an immediate energy boost. The fructose is absorbed more slowly providing sustained energy. * Honey *never spoils*. No need to refrigerate it. It can be stored unopened, indefinitely, at room temperature in a dry cupboard. * Honey is one of the *oldest foods* in existence. It was found in the tomb of King Tut and was still edible since honey never spoils. * Due to the high level of fructose, honey is *25% sweeter than table sugar*. * Honey is created when bees mix plant nectar, a sweet substance secreted by flowers, with their own *bee enzymes*. * To make honey, bees drop the collected nectar into the honeycomb and then evaporate it by *fanning their wings*. * Honey has different *flavors and colors*, depending on the location and kinds of flowers the bees visit. Climatic conditions of the area also influence its flavor and color. * In the days before biology and botany were understood, people thought it was a special kind of *magic* that turned flower nectar into honey.
Blessed is the man that walketh not in the counsel of the ungodly, nor standeth in the way of sinners, nor sitteth in the seat of the scornful. But his delight is in the law of the LORD; and in his law doth he meditate day and night. Psalm 1:1,2
Re: Fun bee facts « Reply #1 on Oct 27, 2009, 11:21am »
Quote:
* *Queen Anne* of England, in the early 1700's, invented a honey and olive oil preparation to keep her hair healthy and lustrous.
Don't try that at home - nor in the forest ...
When we were courting, I met up with Ann's parents in the New Forest. Naturally I used Brylcream for the occasion. Unfortunately it attracted the flies, & I had a cloud of flies over my head wherever we went.
Once long ago and far away I courted lovely Nancy. I rode to meet and her parents greet, Hoping that me they'd fancy. To look my best I was smartly dressed; With Brylcream hair was plastered; For I had planned to win my love's hand - It was a great disaster.
When strolling through forest glades and rides, I didn't look so charming; The midges in the neighbourhood About my hair were swarming. Four years passed and we wed at last Without her parents' blessing. My bride in white and my hair a sight Without that dread hairdressing!
I need a tune in mind before I can write a poem. In this case "Sally" - "Of all the girls that are so smart, there's none like pretty Sally." NOT the Gracie Fields version.
Quote:
* According to Dr. Paul Gold, a Professor of Psychology at the University of Virginia, "people *remember things* much better after they've consumed glucose, a form of sugar found in honey." * Honey is nature's *energy booster*! It provides a concentrated energy source that helps prevent fatigue and can boost athletic performance. * Recent studies have proven that athletes who took some honey before and after competing *recovered more quickly* than those who did not. * Honey supplies *2 stages of energy*. The glucose in honey is absorbed by the body quickly and gives an immediate energy boost. The fructose is absorbed more slowly providing sustained energy.
NOT for diabetics. I don't eat honey or sugar, & have very little carbohydrate in any form. I have more energy & am less sleepy than when I consumed substantial amounts of complex carbs as part of the recommended "healthy diet" for diabetes. I can play two hours of tennis (at 70) without running out of energy.
Fructose may offer sustained energy as a low GI carb, but significant use of it results in an unhealthy increase in triglycerides in the blood lipids. (cholesterol tests.)
Honey is rather better as a sweetener than the ubiquitous corn syrup but in these days of declining bee population, lets encourage the bees rather than rob them of their honey.
I don't recommend encouraging the forest flies & midges by using honey as a hairdressing
« Last Edit: Oct 27, 2009, 11:26am by covenanter »
Job 23:10 But he knoweth the way that I take: when he hath tried me, I shall come forth as gold.
~ "The Bible calls debt a curse and children a blessing; but in our culture, we apply for a curse and reject blessings. Something is wrong with this picture." ~ by, Doug Phillips
We will be getting honey next year from our first hive.
You may want to know that now seasoned beekeepers are recommending that you don't harvest honey from a new hive for the first two years. The honey has antimicrobials in it to improve the bees' resistance to disease and by leaving all the honey for the bees to winter on for those first two years, you will have a much stronger hive for the long haul.
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