The honeycomb design is unmistakable and iconic – lending its likeness even to famous cereal brands. Honeycombs don't just look cool and utterly unique; behind the impressive architectural facade, there is genius functionality. Here, we'll explore why honeycombs look the way they do. Honeycombs Are the Building Blocks of the Hive Before we get into the reasons for the unique design of honeycombs, …
Many people choose to keep bees for a variety of reasons, including: to do their part for the environment by boosting and restoring bee populations for pollination purposes if they grow crops and flowering plants for honey production and hive by-products like beeswax, royal jelly, pollen, and venom Whatever your reasons for beekeeping, it's important to do your research and avoid …
Head down the aisles at your local grocery store, and you’ll see rows upon rows of honey - but does that mean you’re getting the genuine honey experience? Many casual honey consumers don’t understand there is a difference between raw and regular honey, and that if they settle for regular honey, they might not even realize they’re losing out on a …
Honey bees are fascinating creatures that display remarkably complex (and well-coordinated) social behaviors, all in the service of protecting and promoting the vitality of the hive. One of the ways that honey bees practice good "public health" is by social distancing to slow the spread of disease, much in the same way that humans have been encouraged to socially distance …
Honey isn't just a human superfood – it's also a superfood for insects. It fuels the entire life of the hive. The honey that bees produce powers their often-breakneck pace of work as they buzz along, caring for their young and harvesting pollen. Contrary to popular belief, it isn’t just sugar by any means – although it does contain plenty of …
One may be forgiven for assuming honey is just a sweet, syrupy snack. It's actually packed with many health-promoting properties. Honey offers a hearty helping of vitamins, minerals, antioxidants, and – what we'll focus on here -- acids (including amino acids). Bees need these acids for their own nutrition, and to feed their developing larvae. When you harvest the honey from your …
Early 20th-century French entomologist August Magnan was studying how honey bees fly and theorized, based on known laws of physics, that honey bees' wings were too small to facilitate flight. The magic of honey bee flight remained a mystery – until very recently. Aspects of honey bee flight we'll explore here include: Honey Bee Wing Anatomy How Do Honey Bees Fly …
A beehive is a wonderfully complex machination – although at first glance it might seem like a chaotic, unorganized mess, there's a lot more going on that might initially meet the eye. The key points we'll cover here are: What Is the Brood Nest and What Vital Function Does It Serve? What Is the Brood Nest Structure? What Is the Purpose …