Tag Archive for: Bee Products

Deciphering the Language of Pollen Colors

/in /by

For beekeepers, a captivating sight unfolds within the hive: a vibrant tapestry of pollen pellets, each boasting a distinct color. These colorful balls, diligently carried by returning foragers, tell a fascinating story – a story of the bees’ journey and the blooming flowers they encountered.

Just like a painter’s palette, the colors of pollen reveal the flowers the bees have chosen to visit. In some cases, the connection is readily apparent. When bright yellow pollen pellets arrive amidst a landscape awash with blooming wild mustard, the source is evident.

However, the bee world is not always so straightforward. Mysterious colors can intrigue even the most experienced beekeeper. Pollen, usually known for its yellow and white hues, can also surprise us with vibrant reds, greens, blues, oranges, grays, and even purples.

This diversity is especially noticeable in urban and suburban hives where bees have access to a wider variety of gardens and flowers. Unlike their rural counterparts who may encounter vast fields of the same species, urban bees flit from flower to flower, collecting a kaleidoscope of colors.

The reason for this single-color preference is quite simple. Individual bees, known for their meticulous nature, dedicate themselves to foraging from one type of flower at a time. This ensures efficient pollen collection and prevents the unwanted mixing of pollen from different species, which could compromise the colony’s reproductive success.

But the intrigue doesn’t end there. For the curious beekeeper, pollen colors become a tool for investigation. By carefully observing the incoming pollen and comparing it to the blooming flowers in the surrounding area, one can piece together a map of the bees’ foraging routes. This knowledge can be valuable for understanding the health and diversity of the local ecosystem and ensuring that the bees have access to a variety of nutritious pollen sources.

So, the next time you see a bee returning with a vibrant pollen pellet, remember that it carries a hidden story, waiting to be deciphered. Through the language of color, the bees invite us to embark on a journey of discovery, unveiling the secrets of their world and the beauty of the natural landscape that sustains them.

Honey vs. Sugar for Athletes: A Sweet Showdown

/in /by

Athletes know the importance of fueling their bodies during grueling workouts and competitions. That’s why sports drinks and energy gels, packed with sugar, electrolytes, and other performance-enhancing ingredients, have become staples in nearly every athlete’s toolbox. But what if there was a natural, healthier alternative that could actually outperform these conventional options?

Enter honey. This golden nectar, beloved for its taste and versatility, turns out to be a hidden weapon in the athlete’s arsenal. While the global market for sports drinks and energy gels stands at a staggering $28 billion and $500 million respectively, honey offers a compelling combination of benefits that make it a serious contender for the top spot.

The Science Behind the Buzz:

Both sports drinks and energy gels typically rely on sucrose, a simple sugar that provides a quick burst of energy. However, this burst is often followed by a dreaded crash, leaving athletes feeling sluggish and depleted. Honey, on the other hand, throws a one-two punch with its unique composition. It contains both glucose and fructose, sugars that the body absorbs differently:

  • Glucose: This readily available sugar provides an immediate energy boost, just like sucrose. Think of it as the first responder in your body’s energy crisis.
  • Fructose: This slow-burning sugar is a marathon runner, delivering sustained energy over a longer period. It’s like having a built-in backup battery that keeps you going when the initial glucose rush fades.

This dual action of honey ensures a longer-lasting, more consistent energy supply compared to pure sugar. Studies have shown that honey can improve athletic performance in various ways, including:

  • Reduced fatigue: Honey’s sustained energy release helps athletes push harder for longer, delaying the onset of fatigue.
  • Increased endurance: By keeping blood sugar levels stable, honey prevents the dreaded energy crashes that can derail performance.
  • Improved glycogen replenishment: Glycogen is the body’s primary fuel storage for muscles. Honey helps replenish glycogen stores more effectively after exercise, aiding recovery.

Beyond the Basics:

Honey’s advantages extend beyond its sugar composition. Unlike sports drinks and gels, which are often packed with artificial ingredients, honey is a natural product. It contains small amounts of vitamins, minerals, and antioxidants that can further benefit athletes:

  • Vitamins: B vitamins, essential for energy metabolism, are naturally present in honey.
  • Minerals: Electrolytes like potassium, crucial for muscle function and nerve transmission, are found in honey.
  • Antioxidants: These compounds help combat exercise-induced oxidative stress and promote recovery.

And honey comes with its own delicious flavor, eliminating the need for artificial sweeteners and colorings.

DIY or Premade? You Choose:

The best part? You can easily incorporate honey into your sports nutrition routine. Make your own energy gels by mixing honey with a sodium-potassium supplement and store them in portable plastic bags. Or, opt for the convenience of pre-packaged honey sports gels like those from Honey Stinger, which offer a variety of natural and effective formulations.

 

So, the next time you reach for that sugary sports drink or gel, remember the power of the humble honeybee. This natural wonder offers a delicious, healthy, and performance-enhancing alternative that can help you achieve your athletic goals without compromising your well-being. Give honey a try, and you might just discover your new secret weapon for conquering your next workout or competition.

Beeswax Candles

/in /by

One of the fringe benefits of beekeeping is that, as a beekeeper, you have the means of creating your own beeswax candles. Candle making is an especially enjoyable hobby for the winter months.  There are a variety of candle types that can be made from different molds, from votive candles to tealights and pillar candles. As with any process, however, there are some quirks when using beeswax to make your own candles.

While it is possible to use raw beeswax straight from the hive, beeswax generally requires filtration before being used for candle making.   If you are using your own wax, it will likely need to be cleaned, filtered and purified first.   This means that the wax will need to be melted, then run through a strainer.  Some small-scale beekeepers utilize a solar wax melter, in combination with various filtering techniques to clean their beeswax.

The easiest and fastest way to obtain filtered beeswax for candle making, of course, is to purchase beeswax that’s already been processed, which can come in a whole block to be grated, or pellets that are ready to melt. Because beeswax is slow to burn, you need a strong, thick wick that can stand the test of time. There are many nuances to candle making with beeswax, as there’s a balance to find between the type of beeswax, size of your jar or container, and the type of wick – but as with any hobby, practice makes perfect.

The payoff, however, is the final product – a genuine beeswax candle!

Lighting a beeswax candle doesn’t just provide a calming ambiance; it actually helps to pull toxins like dust, pollen, and odor from the air. When beeswax is burned it produces negative ions, which attach to positive ions like indoor toxins. Many people who have asthma or allergies can benefit from lighting beeswax candles, as they help eliminate allergens like dust and dander, creating a cleaner atmosphere in any home or office space.

The benefits of beeswax have been recognized for millennia, with prescriptions including beeswax found dated as far back as 1550 B.C. Beeswax candles were widely used throughout history as well, in Greece, Egypt, China, and Rome – where the Roman Catholic Church required the use of only 100% beeswax candles. In fact, many large churches kept their own apiaries in the monastery to supply their large demand for beeswax candles.

Beeswax candles have continued to grow in popularity as the advantages and benefits become more well known. For instance, it’s been found that other types of wax candles, such as paraffin, can contain carcinogens like benzene or toluene. Beeswax, however, is a pure substance that’s 100% eco-friendly and safe.  Beeswax candles burn clean, are soot-free, and burn longer overall when compared to other types of candles.

Valentine’s Day as A Beekeeper

/in /by

Did you know that honeybees are a symbol of love and romance? That means that as a beekeeper, you’ve already got the inside track to help you celebrate the most romantic holiday of the year. So, skip the box of chocolates this Valentine’s Day and try one of these ideas for your bee-loved instead.

Nothing says Valentine’s Day like the gift of self-care. If your sweetheart is the kind of person who loves the thought of a DIY gift, try your hand at a milk and honey bath bomb.  They’ll appreciate your effort, especially when they feel how silky and soft it leaves their skin.

If you want to treat your queen bee like royalty, a beeswax candle is a perfect gift to show her what she means to you. Every woman loves the warmth and romance a candle creates in the home—the same feeling your relationship brings her. The natural beeswax candle will create an ambiance and fill her space with faint aromas of soft, musky honey.

If your partner has a sweet tooth, why not get some honey for your honey for St. Valentine’s? Honey is a delicious and versatile addition to breakfast in bed. Whether you whip up some pancakes, French toast, hot oatmeal, or fruit salad, your partner will love it topped off with a generous serving of sweet honey.

If you’re ready to get a head start on your summer romance, now is the best time to plant seeds for flowers—for your bees and your romantic partner later in the year. There’s just something special about homegrown flowers rather than buying a pre-arranged bouquet. Just place them in a vase on the table with a beeswax candlelit dinner to take your experience to the next level.

And if you’re single this Valentine’s Day, that’s okay! Just go on Bumble. You’re already a beekeeper and will fit right in! What more reason do you need to get out there and enjoy the season of love?

The Health Benefits of Honey

/in /by

Honey is notorious for being a delicious addition to recipes, it’s also well-known for being a versatile ingredient with many uses. In addition to being a natural sweetener, honey contains antiviral, anti-inflammatory, antioxidant, antiseptic, antimicrobial, and antibacterial properties – making it one of the most popular ingredients used in health and beauty. In fact, alternative uses for honey have been recorded throughout history by many cultures, as far back as 2000 BC!

The medicinal and nutritional value of honey can differ between varieties, as the nectars origin plant helps determine many of the honey’s unique properties. It’s also believed that raw honey contains more of these properties when compared to regular pasteurized honey, often found in grocery stores. Raw honey is often cloudier with a thicker consistency and contains beneficial ingredients such as bee pollen, bee propolis, vitamins, minerals, amino acids, and antioxidants.  Unfortunately, the high heat used in pasteurization can destroy some of these properties, however, it does produce a clearer, more aesthetically pleasing product, which some prefer.

Numerous scientific studies support the beneficial properties of honey, confirming over 200 substances, from vitamins C, B1, B2, and B6 to potassium, calcium, and, of course, sugar. This wide range of components is what makes honey so versatile in its benefits and uses. For instance, natural sugars glucose and fructose account for 95-99% of honey’s contents. Glucose and fructose don’t just taste delicious, they contain enzymes and other components which make honey great for wound dressing and a safer sweetener for people with type I or II diabetes.

Although many of us eat honey simply for its delicious taste, there are many other reasons to consume it. Whether you add it to your hot or cold beverage or your favorite meal, the benefits are endless. Not only is it famous for alleviating cough and cold symptoms, but it’s also been shown that honey helps reduce acid reflux, aka heartburn, treat ulcers, helps relieve allergies and hay fever, and reduces nausea – some people even use it as a natural pre-workout energy boost!

The uses for honey are far from limited. It can also be applied topically on the skin to treat a variety of ailments, such as psoriasis, eczema, dermatitis, dandruff, and acne. This natural moisturizer is a perfect ingredient for lotions, lip balm, shampoos, soaps, and aftershaves – you can even add it to your bath to help soothe dry skin! The healing properties of honey can also be applied to burns or scrapes of the skin to help fight infection and reduce healing time – essentially honey is nature’s all-purpose healing salve.

It’s no surprise that raw honey has been used widely throughout history, from Ancient Greece and Egypt to traditional Chinese Medicine. Whether it is consumed or applied topically, the health benefits are considerable and hard to ignore. Whether you’re in search of all-natural skincare and moisturizer, need to relieve cold symptoms, treat a burn, or just want a little something sweet on your toast, honey is a staple ingredient to keep in any home pantry!

Why Honeybees Are Essential to Humankind

/in /by

Are honeybees a fundamental part of our earth’s ecosystem?   The answer is a resounding “YES”, to say the least!  Not only are they one of the world’s largest pollinators, but they also contribute generously to our lives and well-being in many ways.

Before countless species of plant, flower, vegetable, or fruit can exist, pollination must first take place – it is the key factor for most things that grow. Pollination is a vital process where pollen from a male or female plant is introduced to a plant of the opposite sex to facilitate reproduction. The transfer of pollen initiates fertilization and the production of seeds, allowing plants to procreate.

Cross-pollination occurs in nature with the help of the wind and insects including honeybees – some hobbyists even pollinate manually, by hand, in certain situations. Honeybees, however, are not only one of the principal pollinators around the world, they’re also the most vital to our ecosystem.  For instance, a study by Nature Communications discovered that only 2% of the global bee species contributes to 80% of all bee visits to agricultural crops!

To put it simply – bees are powerhouse pollinators.  Without their participation in this vital process, trees wouldn’t flower, fruit, or produce nuts, many wildflowers wouldn’t bloom, and our farms’ crops would quickly diminish.  Much of the food we eat relies on preserving a healthy bee population to promote pollination and farming efforts, and our ever-growing population as human beings on this planet. In fact, bees are responsible for pollinating 70 of the 100 species of crops that we farm, which feeds 90% of our world’s population.

In addition to being a key source of prosperity for our agricultural crops, bees also produce a gooey, golden nectar that offers sustenance as well as several medicinal purposes – that’s right honey!  Of course, its inherently sweet flavor is perfect for toast, desserts, and a multitude of recipes, but we aren’t the only ones who think it’s delicious.  Many species of insects and animals also thrive on honey in the wild, which furthers the strength of the surrounding ecosystem and helps our planet thrive.

Honey isn’t just a delicious source of food though – it’s actually quite nutritious and is used widely used in holistic medicine as well as the beauty industry. Bees’ honey provides antioxidants, antimicrobial, and anti-inflammatory effects, and can be used topically as well.  Who would have thought that a multi-purpose, all-natural medicine could be produced by bees?!

While we understand that the value honeybees offer our planet is immeasurable, many people like to view things from a monetary value standpoint. It is a difficult concept to investigate, but wild bee populations contribute approximately $3,250 per hectare to crop production annually. Roughly that would equate to around $4.2 trillion provided to the global economy by busy little bees. It’s really no surprise that the “Save the Bee” movement has become a global effort, as it’s quite apparent that our planet and the existence of living plants, birds, animals, and human beings depend greatly on their survival.

Land Rent

/in /by

There are not many professions that enable a person to experience the joy of someone else’s property without having to pay for the privilege.  Gardeners, pet-sitters, house-sitters, and baby-sitters all have the opportunity to visit and experience the pleasures of others’ homes or ranches without the obligation of paying hefty mortgages and property taxes.  But, perhaps of all professions, beekeepers have it the best.  Most beekeepers who maintain outside apiaries (outside apiaries are apiaries that are not situated on the owner’s personal property) gain permission from land owners to not only place bees on their private property, but to also access that property on an as-needed basis to maintain and care for the beekeepers’ colonies.  And, most often, these beekeeping locations are peaceful and soothing to the soul.

This gives the beekeeper a particularly unique vantage point from which to experience often-picturesque and tranquil settings in the countryside to which the average person has no access.  This access comes with responsibilities, and as well as a different set of “costs.”

The beekeeper’s responsibilities involve being respectful and courteous, all the while understanding that he or she is always a guest and not an owner.  That means keeping the apiary clean, well maintained, and free from litter.  It means keeping the bees healthy and calm, and not working with them when people or pets are nearby.  And, it also means cooperating with the landowner to not interfere in any way with the enjoyment of his or her own land.

It may seem like the land owner gives up too much in this exchange, but actually the exchange is a fair trade for the land owner.  If he has crops, the landowner receives free pollination for his fruits and vegetables, and best of all, this individual, usually once per year, cashes in on some “liquid gold” from the beekeeper.

It is a longstanding tradition of beekeepers to share honey with those who host apiaries.  This is considered “land rent.”  The amount of honey that the beekeeper and landowner agree upon can be as little as a few jars, and as much as several full cases.  Much depends on the size and nature of the apiary, and the value of the land to the beekeeper, in terms of honey production and overall access.  Land owners are usually overjoyed to receive a share of the bounty of their land.

At Wildflower Meadows, although we are not specialized in producing honey, we always work hard to deliver the appropriate land rent to the owners of our various apiaries.  Each December, near the beginning of the month, we begin bottling the honey production of the year.  We prepare cases of honey, most usually packed into one-pound glass honey jars.  Liquid gold is soon on the way, and the “land rent” is paid for another year!

Beekeeping And Cosmetics

/in /by

When most beekeepers think about the joys of beekeeping they immediately think of the benefits of having their own supply of honey.  But homemade honey is just one of the many bee products readily available to a beekeeper.  Bees are the producers not only of honey, but beeswax, bee pollen, royal jelly, and bee venom; all ingredients for natural cosmetics.

As a beekeeper you may not realize that you have first-hand access to some of the key ingredients of many popular and trendy cosmetics, such as lip balms, hand balms, soaps, lotions and face masks.  What’s more, some of these basic cosmetics are surprisingly easy to make.  For example, basic lip balm consists of little more than melted beeswax, coconut or olive oil (or sometimes shea butter) and essential oils (also optional).  Lotions and soaps are basically made from the same formula, but often also include honey, another product which a beekeeper has no problem obtaining.  Many basic recipes for beeswax lip balms, lotions and soaps can be found on the Internet.

The use of beeswax in cosmetics dates all the way back to Ancient Egypt, where Egyptologists have uncovered evidence of beekeeping activity as long as 8 thousand years ago!  Ancient Egyptians used beeswax-based setting lotion.  In Ancient China, beeswax was a key component of fingernail polish as long ago as 3,000 B.C.E.

Wildflower Meadows would like to thank all of our friends and customers for a successful 2019.

We wish you all a happy and joyous holiday season!

How Much Honey Can A Beehive Produce?

/in /by

Every bee season eventually reaches a peak when honey production hits its stride and the bees are bringing in the maximum amount of nectar each day.  This is referred to as the honey flow, and it is what most beekeepers live for.

When things are going right, a beehive’s worker bees are putting in long hours foraging, and the house bees are drying nectar as fast as the foragers can bring it in.  A single worker bee can visit over a thousand flowers a day.  Multiply that by thousands of workers, and we are talking about a lot of nectar!

What does it take to reach this kind of honey production?  Well, more than a few variables have to fall into place.  To reach peak honey production a beehive typically needs:

–       A high concentration of honey-producing flowers nearby, such as clover, buckwheat or alfalfa

–       Above average rainfall in the rainy season prior to the bloom (this makes the flowers rich with nectar)

–       A strong, healthy hive, booming with healthy bees and a large population

–       Plenty of space to store all the surplus honey

–       Sunny and warm weather (this enables the flowers to secrete nectar at a maximum), and

–       Plenty of daylight for the bees to fly; from sunup to sundown

A typical beehive in the United States can produce anywhere from 10 to 200 pounds of honey in a year.  That is an unbelievably large range, which indicates just how critical these variables are in order for a beehive to reach peak honey production.

If all is going well, how much honey can a beehive produce in a single day?  At Wildflower Meadows, we have seen beehives fill an entire deep super of buckwheat honey in less than a week.  That’s about 10 pounds of honey per day!  Of course, this happens only once in a while, when all of the above conditions fall into place.  More often than not, here in Southern California, we run into years of drought that greatly distress our native honey-producing plants.  However, when everything is going just right, producing honey can feel a lot like hitting the lottery!

Royal Jelly

/in , /by

While a larva is developing into a queen cell, nurse bees feed the larva with abundant amounts of a milky white gel, known as royal jelly.  Royal jelly is a high protein food (12% protein) that is also loaded with amino acids, B vitamins and trace minerals – a sort of superfood for insects!  Humans eat it too.  If you watch enough infomercials, eventually you can’t help but to run across one touting the many benefits of royal jelly:  “Royal jelly makes bees into royalty!  It’s magic. Try it.  You’ll have energy to burn!”

Is this true?  At Wildflower Meadows, we’ve eaten our share of royal jelly, cutting it out from unwanted queen cells and eating it fresh from the hive.  We have found that it doesn’t taste all that great, but it does seem to provide a nice jolt to the system.  We would rather not tell anyone, however.  The Federal Drug Administration has concluded that there is no human benefit to taking royal jelly.  Furthermore, they threaten legal action against any person or company making unfounded claims to its benefits.

Lets face it: royal jelly was meant to be more of an insect food rather than a human food, as its presence causes a larva to develop into a queen bee rather than a worker bee.

Scientists have recently identified the component of royal jelly that is responsible for this caste differentiation.  It is a protein called “royalactin”, which induces the differentiation of honeybee larvae into queens.  Royalactin increases body size and ovary development and shortens developmental time in honeybees.  We find it amazing that a single substance can initiate the development of such a truly magnificent and royal creature as the queen honeybee.