Antioxidants

It is believed that consuming more antioxidant-rich foods may help protect against cellular damage and possibly prevent the development of chronic diseases. Reasearch indicates that honey includes numerous compounds with antioxidant potential. The amount and type of these antioxidant compounds depends largely upon the floral source (variety) of the honey. In general, darker honeys have been shown to be higher in antioxidant contents than lighter honeys. While the antioxidant conent of honey may not rival that of some of the more antioxidant-rich fruits and vegetables on a gram for gram basis, honey may nevertheless, provide an additional source of dietary antioxidants.


The expression "it's none of your beeswax," really means "it's none of your business." It is believed the origin stems from the time when only the wealthy could read and write. To secure written correspondence, the writer sealed the message with a dot of melted beeswax often with the family seal. Envelopes were not used at that time, so the wax seal kept letters private.

No Bake Honey Energy Bars

Tired of getting the store bought granola bars? Try these instead.

No Bake Honey Energy Bars

2/3 c honey
3/4 creamy or chunky peanut butter
4 c granola mix

In a 4-cup microwave safe container, microwave honey at HIGH (100%) for 2 to 3 minutes or until the honey boils. Stir in peanut butter, mix until thoroughly blended. Place granola in large bowl. Pour honey mixture over granola and combine thoroughly. Press firmly into 13x9x2 inch baking pan lined with wax paper. Let stand until firm. Cut into bars.

Makes 36 bars. Calories 87, carbs 14, fat 3.2, protein 2.2, sodium 48

The Natural Energy

It is no secret that athletes of all ages and abilities include honey in their training regimens.  Honey is commonly found on training tables "before the big game," made into energy drinks to drink durng exercise, or as an energy boost for athletes who have gone through the challenge of "making weight."

The benefits of carbohydrate (CHO) consumption prior to, during and following endurance exercise are well documented.  Research supports the benefit of CHO consumption prior to and during high intensity exercise of shorter durations also (examples: soccer, swimming and even resistance exercises).  Carbs eaten before and during exercise help maintain blood glucose levels and prevent premature fatigue (crashing).  After exercise, carbs are necessary to replenish muscle and liver glycogen and prepare the athlete for the next training bout.

Honey is a natural source of readily available carbohydrates providing 17 grams of carbs per tablespoon.  Honey's unique carbohydrate composition, approximately equal amounts of fructose and glucaose, may render it the perfect pre-exercise food.  Research suggests that honey is as effective as glucose for carb replacement during endurance exercise too.

Beautiful Pictures

The following photos were taken by our friend Joni Lentz Earley.  She loves her bees and takes great photos of them, it looks like they pose just for her.

These guys aren't honeybees, but all pollinators are important.

She's loves her cat too.  Thanks Joni, for sharing your pictures.

Granola, Yogurt & Honey

Crunchy Honey-Yogurt Breakfast Parfait
1 large banana, sliced, divided
1/3 cup honey, divided
1/2 cup plain yogurt, divided
1/2 cup crunchy granola, divided

Reserve several slices of banana for garnish.  Layer 1 tablespoon honey, 1/4 of the pre-sliced banana, 2 tablespoons of yogurt, 2 tablespoons granola, 1/4 of the sliced banana, 2 tablespoons yogurt, 1 tablespoon honey and 2 tablespoons granola in parfait glass.  Repeat for second parfait.  Garnish with reserved banana and honey.

Nutrition: Calories 408, Total Fat 9.4, Protein 7.6g, Cholesterol 4mg, Carbs 80, Sodium 47, Dietary Fiber 4.


This reciped was reprinted from The National Honey Board, check their website for more great recipes,                National Honey Board Recipes.

More Health Benefits

Honey and weight loss are often associated.  Why is honey a smarter choice than table sugar if you are watching your weight and what you eat?

Refined dietary sugars lack minerals and vitamins and are often called empty calories.  They draw upon the body's nutrients to be metabloized into the system, and when these nutrients are depleted, metabolizing of cholesterol and fatty acid is impeded, contributing to higher cholesterol and promoting obesity due to higher fatty acid on the organs and tissues.  The good news is that honey, a natural sweetener, contains 22 amino acids and a variety of minerals essential for its metabolism so it is helpful in preventing obesity.

If you are determined to shed weight and speed up a sluggish metabolism, try this honey and lemon tip.
It is believed that drinking lemon juice with a little honey the first thing in the morning is an effective anticellulite treatment as it helps to increase body metabolism.  Another very popular recipe associated with honey and weight loss is a drink that uses honey and cinnamon as ingredients.  Many people have found this home remedy effective in losing pounds.  It's easy to make,  just dissolve half a teaspoon of  ground cinnamon in a cup of boiling water.  Stir and cover for half an hour.  Filter any big particles and add a teaspoon of honey.  Take it in the morning with an empty stomach and about a half hour before breakfast.

For people who tend to overeat or feel discomfort in their stomach after meals, honey can be taken for better digestion.  Honey is a simple carbohydrate that one safely  takes during fasting because it contains easily digested sugars.  Foods that are rich in sugars or complexes of sugars are carbohydrates and it takes the body much longer to digest the sugar from complex carbohydrates.

This information  was found at http ://www.benefits-of-honey.com

Anatomy of a Honey Bee

The body of the honey bee is segmented: stinger, legs, antenna, three segments of thorax and six visible segments of abdomen.  

The head consists of eyes, antennas and feeding structures.  The eyes include the 2 compound eyes and the simple eye.  The compound eyes helps bees understand color, light and directional information from the sun's UV rays, while the simple eye helps in determining the amount of light present.  The antenna's function is to smell and detect odors and to measure flight speed.  The mandible is the bee's jaw, which is used in eating pollen, cutting and shaping wax, feeding larva and the queen, cleaning the hive, grooming and fighting.  The tongue allows the bee to drink nectar, honey and water.  It also functions as the medium for food exchange between the bees.

The thorax of the honey bee consists of the wings, legs and the muscles that control their movement.  The forewing, which is typically larger than the hind wing, is used for flight and as a cooling mechanism, while the latter is used to fan away heat and cool the hive.  The legs are also important to pollen transfer and propolis, a resinous mixture collected and used as a sealant in hives.

The abdomen's six segments include female reproductive organs in the queen, male reproductive organs in the drone and the stinger in both workers and queen.  The stinger is a defense mechanism which stays in the victim when used because it has barbs, and causes the bee to die.

Drones Deserve More Credit

A drone's work is never done.  Everyone knows about worker bees.  They do all the work, build the hive, fetch the pollen and nectar, take care of the babies and a lot more.  The queen has the very big and never ending task of birthing all the little bees.  Often we give the drones a hard time because other than mating with the queen, they just hang around and eat food stores.  However, they really are incredibly important, they are the carriers of the next generation.  They fly out to find queens from other colonies and pass along their genes.....thus insuring he continuity of the honey bee race, and of their particular colony.

This is what Spanish setlers first called the California Poppy.  Translated, that means "cup of gold", a term first coined in local legend and one inspired by this plant's orange petals.  It was said that as each of the petals eventually grew tired and fell, they would turn into gold as they tumbled down, changing the ground beneath into a rich, treasure-filled bounty.

Go To Sleep

It's true, I have been known to be a total grouch in the mornings, occasionally.  I'm not normally this way, but I know I don't want to do anything or deal with anybody until I've had something to eat and then I'll be fine (I'm not a coffee drinker).

A few months ago I read a book called The Hibernation Diet.  One of the main concepts of the books is about how honey fuels the liver and the effects that has on our body.  What I learned is that the liver converts glucose and fructose that we consume into energy.  Since we eat thruoughout the day, we continually keep the liver fueled.  During the night however, our bodies often use up that fuel supply and the liver can literally be on empty in the morning.  That is why you can feel sluggish, draggy, ucky or grouchy when you get up. 

Having a couple of spoonfuls of honey in the morning will refuel the liver and get you back on track.   Don't forget about all the energy you use during exercise too.  Eating honey before and/or after exercise will help your body recover faster from using all those carbs. 

Try this and see what you think.  Once I started doing this, it was like Wa La!, the Grouchies are gone  (my husband is even happier about this than I am).  The Hibernation Diet has alot more information about how great honey is for the body.  If you would like to read it, you can find copies at the following places.

Mann Lake Bee Keeping Supplies 
Amazon



Saturday, May 29 is Honey Bee Awareness Day.  Let's show our little friends some loving. 

Visit:
Celebrate Honey Bee Awareness Day

.

Honey Cornbread

Honey Cornbread
1 c each yellow cornmeal and all-purpose flour
2 tsp baking powder
1 tsp each baking soda and salt
1 cup milk
1/4 cup honey
1 egg
2 tbs cooking oil

In a large bowl, combine cornmeal, flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt.  In a small bowl, whisk together milk, honey, egg and oil.  Add to the flour mixture; stir until just combined. 

Pour batter into a well-greased 8x8 inch baking pan. Bake at 350* for 25-30 minutes or until a toothpick inserted near the center comes out clean.  Serve warm.

Makes 9 servings

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I have recently discovered Georgia Made Georgia Grown.  It is an organization that promotes things Made and Grown in Georgia.  You will find growers, makers and entertainers of Georgia.  Visit them on Facebook at:

www.facebook.com/georgiamadegeorgiagrown

Swarm Prevention

We have recently had visitors from 18 different countries.  We appreciate everyone's interest and hope you are enjoying our blog.

On to swarm prevention.  Despite the fact that swarming is a completely natural form of reproduction for the bees, once it happens, a bee keeper now has two small hives.  While he waits on each hive to build up their workforce to preswarm numbers, he has lost a significant amount of time of honey production.

A new queen won't get the urge in her first year, but by the following spring, that natural instinct will kick in.  Once she knows it's time to get ready, she will lay several eggs that will be fed royal jelly and form into queen pupa.

 Queen cells are very easy to identify since they are so large.  The developing queen will be to large to fit in a regular cell.  When you see what often looks like a peanut hanging on the side of the comb, you've found it.

Swarm season will be at different times during the spring depending on the climate where you live.  If you are not sure when this time is, just ask another bee keeper in your area or check with a local association.  Once you have this info, you can start prevention procedure a few weeks ahead of time.

Remove queen cells as you see them being developed.  All you need to do is cut them off with your hive tool.  When you identify a hive as a potential swarmer by locating the queen cells, you can make 'splits'.  A split is simply dividing the hive in half yourself.  This way you can control the situation better and you will wind up keeping all of your bees.  Otherwise, if you don't happen to be in the bee yard when they get ready to go on their own and aren't able to catch them, you've just lost half a hive.

'Starter hives' are placed in a smaller hive box called a nucleus or a 'nuc'.  They will hold 3-5 frames each.  In order to sustain a split, you will need to remove one or two frames of brood from a healthy hive to put into the nuc.  You will also need a frame of honey so they will have food right away.  Add two frames of drawn comb so the queen will have place to start laying (or you can add two frames of honey and one of drawn comb, it is not an exact science).  Making a split does require a bit of planning because you will have to aquire an additional queen.  These can easily be ordered from most bee suppliers and will be shipped to you thru regular mail here in the US. 

A full frame of brood and a frame of honey.

When the new bees emerge from the comb that came from a different hive, the bees will stay where they are and not go to the original hive.  When they are born, they know their queen's pheromone and will know that is where they belong.  As the young colony grows, eventually place them in a full size hive box.

Accept one another, just as Christ accepted you, in order to bring praise to God.  Romans 15:7

When They Swarm

The sole purpose of the existense of a honey bee is to reproduce.  It is also a natural impulse for them to want to swarm.  If they didn't reproduce with such ferver, the swarm impulse wouldn't be there. 

There are different ways for a bee keeper to look at swarming.  On the one hand, a swarm means an additional hive, additional honey but only in the long run (probably not til the next year), and perhaps a little adventure in retrieving it.  However, on the more practical side, swarm prevention is preferred by any bee keeper who is wanting to keep his hive population and his honey production high. 

If a hive swarms, you've just lost half your honey producing bees from the original hive and they have to have time to build themselves back up so that they can get that original level of production up as well. 

If you catch the swarm and place them in a hive box that already has drawn out comb in it, you still have to wait on the queen to lay eggs that will take 21-24 days to be born.  A large portion of the bees will be dying off and the population will be dwindling as a bee typically lives about 30 days or so.  The survival of the new hive will greatly depend on the older bees surving til the new bees are born.

One way to give a tremendous boost to bee production in the new hive is to remove a couple of brood frames from another hive, they don't necessarily have to come from the original hive, you may not even know which one the swarm came from.  The baby bees will not go back to the hive that their brood frame was removed from.  When they are born, they will only know the pheromone of that hive's queen and believe that is where they are supposed to be.

Since a swarm leaves home with only the food they can carry inside them, they will need food stores quickly.  Adding a food source will also be very beneficial to the ladies.  Pollen patties are a great source of protein for the bees, but if you don't have any ready available (you can order it from a bee supplier), give them sugar water or even honey.

Our next post will be about Swarm Prevention.