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 |
Opening the honey |
Honey extractor from above |
Bottling the honey |
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 |
Opening the honey |
Honey extractor from above |
Bottling the honey |
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
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.
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 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!
Every job has tools that are used in special ways; beekeepers do too. These tools make it easier and safer for the beekeeper to do their work.
Beekeepers in full beekeeping suits. |
Different types of hive tools. |
A beekeeper's smoker. |
While we may know what the queen bee looks like or what her job is, there is so much more for us to learn! Here are five fun facts about the queen!
1. She lays her weight in eggs every single day, about 1,000 to 3,000 eggs.
2. She is the longest bee in the hive. She is about 0.75 to 1 inch, or about twice the length of a regular worker bee!
3. The queen bee lives the longest. While worker bees only live 5-6 weeks, the queen lives anywhere from 3 to 6 years.
4. A queen bee is not chosen, she is made. When a hive needs a new queen, they will feed a worker larva a substance called “royal jelly”. This rich substance allows the larva to turn into a queen bee who can lay eggs!
5. The queen can control the hive’s mood with her pheromone scent.
Honeybees do a lot to help us, but they need some help from us too.
In the winter, honeybees eat food that the beekeepers leave in the beehive. By spring, the hive is usually getting low on food, so honeybees need to go visit flowers to collect pollen and nectar. The first flower that gives the honeybees lots of pollen and nectar is the dandelion. You can help honeybees by letting your grass get a little longer in the spring and letting the dandelions grow to give the honeybees food. Once dandelions are mostly white, honeybees can't get anymore food from the flower; then it is a good time to cut the grass.
Planting flowers for honeybees to visit is another great way to help honeybees. Planting flowers that will boom at different times in the spring, summer, and fall make sure that they honeybees will have food all the time.
One hive of honeybees can go through a gallon of water every day. They have to collect that water to drink and to cool down the beehive. Honeybees cannot swim, so you can help them get the water they need by putting some stones in a bird bath. The stones give the honeybees a place to land and sit while they are collecting water. Other than helping the honeybees get food and water, there is another way you can help them.
Leaving the honeybees that you see on flowers, in the air, and drinking water alone to do their work helps the honeybees. Honeybees do not want to sting you. They are working to make honey and food for the beehive. Don't swat at honeybees when you see them, and give them some space to keep working. These are all very easy ways you can help honeybees do their jobs!
When it comes time for winter, all of the bees have different jobs to prepare! The queen is laying eggs for all of her winter bees, which will keep her warm and protect her during the winter months. The drones, who get kicked out for the winter, will quickly die off. The workers have one of the most important jobs during this time: to keep the queen alive! When the temperature drops, the workers will cluster around their queen to keep her warm.
They will switch places to make sure everyone stays warm, and some bees will leave the cluster to get nectar, pollen, and honey to feed themselves and the queen. Once the weather warms up, they will leave the hive in small spurts to ensure that there is not too much waste inside the hive. Even though they are not leaving the hive, these little pollinators are still very busy inside their home.Some of the colors of honey produced in the United States |
Different Forms of Honey |
The American Beekeeping Federation held their 81st Annual Convention in New Orleans, Louisiana. The new American Honey Queen and Princess have been crowned!
The honey bee in the center is doing the waggle dance to tell other honey bees where the food sources are outside of the hive. |
Honey Rhubarb Ice Cream
Cook the sliced rhubarb, lemon juice, and salt in sauce pan over medium heat, until the rhubarb is softened. Place the rhubarb mixture and the desired amount of honey into a blender and puree. Place the rhubarb and honey puree into the refrigerator to cool completely. Once the puree is completly cooled, pour the heavy whipping cream into a bowl and whip into whipped cream. Gently fold the puree into the whipped cream and then place the mixture into the freezer until fully frozen.