Granny Bees and Honey Bees

Remember this from the making splits post?

Remember this from the Making Splits post?

When I visited the rug hooking class, I brought some of it for the women to try. Raw honey, right out of the hive. Not something you get to taste every day.



Barb said it was much sweeter than what she bought from me last fall. I explained that honey in the spring is made from the nectar of lighter colored blossoms such as fruit trees, locust trees, etc. (think spring colored blossoms), while honey in the fall is made from nectar from fall colored flowers such as goldenrod, (fall colored blossoms). The lighter flowers have a sweeter taste. We've used spring honey in place of syrup on pancakes before. The yellow flowers have a stronger flavor.

feral woman a had a very good question from my post on splits that I thought I'd answer on here. She asked me if the bees will make a new queen from the brood that I transferred to the empty hives. Yes amazingly they will. Honey bees are just as creative as the Granny Bees! They will feed some of those brood cells royal jelly and out of that brood will emerge a queen. However, the queen must leave the hive. This is the one time the queen leaves the hive on her own, and it's to get mated. She goes out of the hive, and mates with a drone (male bee - and folks, that's pretty much all drones are good for!) If all goes well, and she doesn't get eaten by a robin, she comes back to the hive and starts laying eggs...lots and lots of eggs. And she will never see the light of day again unless she swarms. Thanks feral woman for the question.

Cindy Bee