National Honey Bee Day
A bee colony is a highly organised society and behaves with such intricate co-operation and selflessness. Bees literally live for the hive, its occupants and wellbeing. It is no wonder beehive colonies are referred to as a superorganism.
How you can help:
Consider setting up beehives at home or at the office.
Support local beekeepers by purchasing locally produced honey and other beehive products. Honey is the best sweetener you can buy.
Choose non poisonous chemical treatments for your garden and home as these are deadly to honey bees as well as other beneficial insects.
Plant a bee friendly garden with native and nectar producing flowers.
Many flowering weeds produce food for bees so leave them be and remove them just before they set seed.
Provide a water source such as a shallow basin with pebbles or sponges.
Bees are the only insects that produce food eaten by man.
Honey is the only food that includes all the substances necessary to sustain life, including enzymes, vitamins, minerals and water.
The average worker bee produces about 1/12th teaspoon of honey in her lifetime.
A hive of bees will fly about 120,000km which is the equivalent of three orbits around the earth to collect a mere 1kg of honey.
The honey bee's wings stroke about 200 beats per second making their famous, distinctive buzz.
A honeybee can fly for up to 10km and as fast as 25km per hour.
A strong hive can number between 40,000 - 60,000 bees and is made up of worker bees, drones and one queen bee.
Worker bees are all females and performs a multitude of tasks including tending to the queen, feeding larvae and drones, nectar ripening, producing heat, collecting water, house cleaning, guard duty, collection of pollen and nectar, to list a few.
Drones are male bees and have only one job, which is mating with queen bees. If the workers bees stop feeding the drones, they would die.
"Unique among all God's creatures, only the honeybee improves the environment and preys not on any other species." ~ Royden Brown