In my blog I plan to chat about nature, crafts, baking, gardening, beekeeping, family, and whatever else seems appropriate at the time. Sit back, relax, and enjoy!

Monday, July 25, 2011

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

7 comments:

  1. Who woulda thought! Does the drone die after mating?

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  2. Please send me your birth date and mailing address for the blog board I am creating.
    lindanuts@yahoo.com

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  3. My dad used to have some hives. Oh I miss that honey. He had them when I was in college so I wasn't around much to learn about bee keeping. I am a little chicken but would love to get over my fear and have a hive. Lucky ladies those friends of yours.

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  4. Thanks for answering my question, queen bee lady - they are absolutely amazing little creatures - and now we learned more about them! While we have been home we have been watching the bee man go past out on the road in his flatbed truck ; he's tending the bees that he rents out so that the yellow sweet clover gets sexed up lol all over the county...theres stacks of hives all over the place...now you have me thinking that the honey i get in town - since its local - is sweet clover honey ; no wonder its different then the wisconsin honey I use to have!

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  5. Thanks for stopping by with your sweet sentiments. Honey for my soul.
    Rosaria

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  6. I'm going to have to go back to see your other bee posts. We're hoping to get bees next spring so I'm educating myself.
    Judy

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Thank you for taking time out of your busy day to leave a comment on my blog. I enjoy reading them. I hope you have a wonderful day.

Cindy