What you should know about bees
More than 140 species of horticultural plants, around 50 types of cultivated plants, more than 60 types of shrubs and fruit trees and almost 50 species of herbaceous plants …are all pollinated by bees. They are the most active pollinators in the ecosystem. Without bees, crop yields can be lower by up to 80%[1]. And it goes without saying that there would be no honey without bees.Why are we writing about all this? Because it is extremely important to us.
Bees are irreplaceable. It is thanks to these little creatures that we can eat a sandwich with honey, fresh fruit or a tasty salad. The fate of bees impacts us.
Like every company, we want to develop, thrive and invest in new solutions. But business does not operate in isolation from the natural environment. What is more, what we do today has an impact on the lives of future generations. We want to help, even if to a small extent, to create a healthier ecosystem for ourselves and others. That’s why we donate part of the money we earn to building hives.
WHAT IS OUR HONEY MADE OF?
Our hives are surrounded by acacia, lime and rapeseed. This is where the bees collect the nectar from which our honey is made. In other periods (when the above mentioned crops are not in bloom) we collect multifloral honey. The bees also collect pollen from plants, which they use to feed young bees.
HOW BIG IS OUR APIARY?
At the moment, there are 50 bee families in the apiary. One family = one hive.
HOW MUCH WORK DOES THE APIARY NEED?
To keep the apiary in good condition, it is necessary to carry out all the activities in a timely manner. The timing and frequency of maintenance work depends mainly on weather conditions and the state of the hives. In order to have a thriving apiary, you need to inspect the interior of hives once a week to respond to the needs of the bees on a regular basis, i.e. to add or remove frames, administer medication, remove queen cells and extract honey when there is too much of it, so that the bees do not have too much free time.
Additionally, it is also necessary to take care of the exterior of hives. Our hives are wooden and they are exposed to the rain, the wind, the sun and frost. Sometimes this requires replacing a hive with a new one or repairing the roof or the base.
The surroundings of the hives are also of great importance. They must not be placed in the shade as the bees would get up too late and work for less time. Be sure to cut back any bushes around the hives so that they do not obstruct the bees’ entrance and do not become a hiding place for other animals, such as mice.
HOW MANY BEES ARE THERE IN A BEE COLONY?
In summer, very strong colonies have between 70,000 and 80,000 bees.
In autumn, there are between 20,000 and 25,000 bees in an average colony.
HOW LONG DO BEES LIVE?
Spring and summer worker bees live an average of 36-40 days, while autumn bees can live from 6 to 9 months.
WHEN DO WE HARVEST HONEY?
The time and amount of honey harvested depends on when we set up the hive.
If the hive is set up by mid-May, the bees have plenty of food and can reproduce quickly, allowing the first honey harvest to take place in July. If the colony is set up later, the bees cannot multiply enough to provide a significant amount of honey and, as a result, the first harvesting of honey is postponed until the following year.
Honey is collected after the flowering of plants and trees on windless days.
What do we owe to bees?
It is not only honey that we have thanks to bees and their cousins. As much as 1/3 of the world’s food depends on pollination by bees.
So what exactly do we owe them?
Bees produce:
1. Honey: 1,234,006 – on average this is how many flowers bees have to visit to produce 0.3 kg of honey. Honey is free from chemical contamination. Toxin-sensitive bees would die collecting contaminated nectar or honeydew. Honey is the only food that does not spoil. The oldest honey found in Georgia was 5,500 years old and still fit for human consumption.
2. Pollen: this little-known product is a valuable source of nutrients. It contains more vitamin C than apples, for example. Pollen is also rich in vitamins B1, B2 and PP.
3. Royal jelly: a creamy secretion from the glands of young worker bees. It contains minerals such as calcium, copper, iron, phosphorus, potassium, silicon and sulphur. Royal jelly contains vitamins from the vitamin B complex. It also contains numerous minerals and vitamin C. It is also a natural ingredient in candles, shoe polish and many cosmetics such as lipsticks and ointments. .
Albert Einstein famously predicted that: “If the bee disappears from the surface of the Earth, man would have no more than four years left to live.” This was no exaggeration, as these beneficial insects maintain life on Earth through pollination.1/3 of the world’s food depends on pollination by bees. Thanks to these beneficial insects we have not only honey, but also fresh fruits and vegetables, pomades, creams, rapeseed oil, jams, herbs and spices, almonds and nuts. Thanks to bees we have 4 00e of these below:
