The Western Honeybee 🤠
Ah, Apis mellifera: the true raison d'être for us and countless other beekeepers around the world. Of course, not the only bee that produces "honey", but one of the key quasi domesticated bee species' to be found in the history of our own (shoutout to the Stingless Bees of the Americas widely believed to have been part of human life for many thousands of years and no stranger to honey production 🍯).
While it's obvious that humans (and others as well, looking at you Winnie-The-Pooh! 🐻) have been interested in honey for a long time indeed, our best guess is that some of the first domestication efforts occurred in and around Ancient Egypt over four thousand years ago, however given how old human agriculture is and how darn handy bees are around the farm, we expect that the relationship may be in fact much older.
What Does A Honeybee Look Like?
In our local area, a good rule of thumb is you're probably looking at either a Bumblebee or a Honeybee (or a wasp!). The Bumbles are bigger and hairier, the Honeybees are smaller and less hairy. The wasps are trying to ruin your day and especially your picnic (very territorial, however simply trying to survive!) Being that there are over 20,000 different species' of bee, they come in all stripes including miner bees, carpenter, mason and much more, so by all means do some internet sleuthing and always send us any bee photos you've taken!
Are Honeybees Domesticated?
A subject of some contention, as usual it depends on what you mean! Let's just say that unlike certain other familiar farm faces (mooooo 🐮), honeybees can be incredibly adaptive to living away from humans, and in a hostile environment overflowing with incredible competitors and voracious predators. In other words: we need them more than they need us ❤️
That said, with the right practices and the right attitude, a thoughtful and well informed beekeeper can certainly make life a lot less harsh for a bee colony, and provide it the means to go about its business without needing to worry as much about being wiped out by the attention of rampaging bears, wasps, winters and humans alike.
How Do Honeybees Make Honey?
You don't want to know! ✨ It's a complex process, and honey itself is a truly complex and magical substance beyond merely its flavour (which is contingent on local nectar/pollen sources!) or its caloric content.
Basically, while the male bees hang out in and around the hive waiting for the one day that they are called upon in their short lives, a certain subset of the female bees is bravely taking to the skies and very very literally risking life and limb to visit flowers (pollination!) in the pursuit of primarily pollen and flower nectar. It's a give and take: flower gets to reproduce, bees get to eat 🍴
This is an incredible relationship because the more the bees pollinate, the more the plants they're pollinating can flourish and become more abundant! 🌼🌷🌹🌸
When back at the hive, returning bees will hand off their collected honey to the house bees, who will then make a "deposit" in the local communal "honey bank account" which is a complex process that ultimately results in the honey being carefully and neatly stored in those little cells you know as Honeycomb 🤤
👉 Click here for info about our bumblebee relocation service, Call Before You Spray!
👉 Click here for wildflower seeds!
The Contest 🏆
You have two choices, friends:
You're a lone desperado on a mission to defend the hive? Click here to visit our arcade 👾 and take a picture of your high score (be fast on the draw to catch it!), 30 coins if able to hit 300 points and 60 coins if able to hit 600, highest score gets 120 coins instead 👌 Send in your scores to us, your bees, at bees@honeyb.ca
Or, instead:
Ask us a question about honeybees not addressed in this article for 30 coins. An additional 30 coins if you have a piece of feedback, or if you see something we can improve on or you'd like changed. Another 30 coins if you include a note about what makes you interested in bees and honey, and yet another 30 coins if you enter within 24 hours of our newsletter subscriber email going out! Comment below with your entry 🐎