facts about bees and honey

The African honey bees (Apis mellifera scutellata) is a subspecies of the Western honey bee. It is native to central and southern Africa, though at the southern extreme it is replaced by the Cape honey bee (Apis mellifera capensis).



This subspecies has been determined to constitute one part of the ancestry of the Africanized bees (also known as "killer bees") spreading through Americ.

The African bee is being threatened by the introduction of the Cape honey bee into northern South Africa. If a female worker from a Cape honey bee colony enters an African bee nest, she is not attacked, partly due to her resemblance to the African bee queen. Now independent from her own colony, she may begin laying eggs, and since A. m. capensis workers are capable of parthenogenetic reproduction, they will hatch as "clones" of herself, which will also lay eggs. As a result, the parasitic A. m. capensis workers increase in number within a host colony. This leads to the death of the host colony on which they depend. An important factor causing the death of a colony seems to be the dwindling numbers of A. m. scutellata workers that perform foraging duties (A. m. capensis workers are greatly under-represented in the foraging force of an infected colony) owing to death of the queen, and, before queen death, competition for egg laying between A. m. capensis workers and the queen. When the colony dies, the capensis females will seek out a new host colony.

There’s approximately 20,000 species of bees throughout the world making them the interest of beekeepers who rely on them to cross pollinate because when bees do that it changes not only the flowers they collect pollen from creating new species of flowers, but it also changes the consistency of the honey the produce. Beekeepers also track bees when they cross breed with other species of bees and that’s how they track their habits from mating to origin of where they come from. Beekeepers will also track their honey production since different species of bees will also produce different consistencies of honey.

Most bees were originated from places in Europe, Africa and some parts of Asia, but with the fact that many bees were brought over by immigrants to the United States over the centuries. Bees are found on all continents except Antarctica. The evolutions of bees are derived from wasps since they’re cousins with the exception that wasps aren’t pollinating insects and their ability to be organized rivals wasps, beetles, flies, and butterflies. Bees are also categorized in two social classes that are ideal for beekeepers to adapt their system of managing bees and hives.

Most bees born are usually female you have few males, and females will fight each other for control of the hive and colony. Now most people when they hear about the African bee they think killer bees when in fact the Africanized honeybee is in fact not dangerous as people make them out to be. It is this species of bee that is the most popular with beekeepers and the beekeeping industry alike. The African honeybee are the most readily used when they produce clover honey which is the most used and produced honey. One reason that the African bee is so popular is because they’re not an aggressive species that will readily attack someone, but they will attack when they’re defending the hive and the Queen-who will go into permanent residence inside the hive after she becomes pregnant and isn’t seen ever again. Usually most beekeepers remove portions of the hive, but leave the one that contains the queen where it’s.

Bees are generally docile, but they do get annoying when they fly around you during picnics because of the fact that their sense of smell will direct them since they don’t have very good eyesight. Their sense of smell is what helps them find flowers they pollinate and sometimes with the food people eat in this world the smell can mimic flowers which can result in them getting their scents mixed up. This is why you’ll likely find bees swarming around trash because debris on food wrappers can attract them because sweet scents resemble flowers and plants. Beekeepers should be careful about dispensing their trash because bees can smell sweet scents for long distances and what can be harmless such as disposing trash can turn into a huge pest problem when they start gathering in places that isn’t their normal habitat.

12 amazing honey bee facts

 This article discusses some facts about the bee that I think are quite amazing.

There are several types of honey bee but four main breeds which vary in size and characteristics. All are social and live in large honey manufacturing colonies. We humans harvest the honey of one main bee type known as the European bee Latin name Apis mellifera.

I think that people would be more tolerant of the presence of bees if they knew more about them.

1-Bees produce beeswax to build their hexagonal shaped honeycombs and brood cells. The U.S. harvests about 10,000 tons of beeswax annually. It is used to make fine candles, furniture waxes, polishes, cosmetics and shoe polish.

2-The scientific name of Honey bee is Apis mellifera and they have great significance for the environment as they play an important role in pollination.

3-The queen Honey bee can lay up to 1500 eggs each day and almost a million eggs in her whole lifetime. Worker bees take care of food and grooming for the queen because she hardly has free tie from laying eggs in all her life. It can have a lifespan of almost 5 years and is the only bee to lay eggs.

4-Bees also produce propolis, a sticky glue-like substance with which they repair their hive. This product is the basis for some wood varnishes and bonding agents. Propolis has a long history of uses in traditional medicine and is claimed to be beneficial in the treatment of inflammations and minor burns. It is said to be effective in treating fungal infections and even reduce the probability of developing cataracts.

5-It has been scientifically proved that they are very intelligent insects that can actually recognize individual human faces.

6-Honey bees are the only creatures that produce a substance consumed by human beings. They provide us with honey which has great nutritional and economic significance. Honey bees are gentle in nature and usually won't harm anyone until they perceive a danger for their hive. They are about 3/4 inch long and each bee hive may have up to 80000 bees most of which would be the workers. Honey bees build a hive which is their home and it is ruled by a Queen bee which is the largest bee in the hive.

7- Honey is a complete food as it contains vitamins, minerals, enzymes and essential nutrients. It has numerous health benefits and helps with improved memory and better brain functioning.

8- The male honeybees are called 'Drones' and are slightly larger compared to the worker bees. Their only job is to mate with the Queen bee and they die immediately after the mating process is completed.

9- Honey bees help with pollination of various fruits and vegetables and this natural pollinators make a great contribution towards the existence and sustainability of the environment.

10-Researchers have found that honey bees are responsible for pollinating approximately 80% of all fruit, vegetable and seed crops in the United States of America alone.

11-It has been proved that unlike some of their insect cousins that stay alive after they sting other, they will actually die after they sting another.

12-Scientists had also worked put that their wings will stroke at 11400 times each and every minute which is what in fact causes the bees very distinctive buzz.

It is important to remember that all honey bees are important to the planet because they carry out the vital role of pollinating our plants, flora and crops.

That is why I would like to ask you to consider either keeping hives at home in your garden or encourage other types of bees such as the bumblebee or solitary bee to nest by installing bee nesting sites which you can obtain from your local garden centre.

The topbar beehive is not a new concept. Historical reference to the top-bar hive date back to the 1600′s. Most of today’s top bar bee hives are derived from work in the 1960′s. It was perfected for use in Kenya, Africa, and is often referred to as the Kenya Hive. Today it is also used in many other developing countries for it’s simple design and cost effective management methods. In recent years it has also become more popular in the United States.

The traditional Langstroth beehive consists of several boxes (supers) and numerous other parts that are either difficult to build or expensive to buy. In addition to the beehive, the Langstroth hive requires many other pieces of equipment to harvest honey and manage your bees. Not so with the top bar hive as you can read below.

Simple and Maintenance-Free

The top bar hive has only a few components: the hive body (box), 20 to 30 top bars (frames), and a lid. That’s all you will ever need. Compare that to your Langstroth hive. Bees build their own comb which eliminates the need for costly frames. The top bars are re-used after the harvest.

Non-Invasive Design

The top bar hive is healthier for bees. To check your bees, you will not have to take the whole thing apart. Hence, your bees will be less disturbed by your presence and checking of the comb.

Easy Harvest

To harvest your honey, you simply remove the bars with honeycomb. Unlike traditional methods, you won’t have to take the hive apart and disturb the bees as much. Not only is the top bar hive less stressful to harvest for you, it also does not disturb the bees as much. In addition to honey, the top bar hive has more beeswax to harvest. You also do not need a honey extractor/centrifuge or uncapping knife which saves you thousands of dollars. Smoking is completely unnecessary and many top bar hive users do not wear protective clothing either. (For the beginner I do advise to use some kind of protection, gloves and veil as the minimum!) Once you remove the honey comb, the bees will go about their business as usual. Try that on a Langstroth hive.

Healthier Bees

The top bar hive is designed for the bees’ optimal living conditions. This makes a colony much stronger and enables it to fight off pests and diseases on their own, much better than in a Langstroth hive. Besides healthier bees this will save you hundreds of dollars in medication as well as disappointment.


Why doesn’t everyone use top bar hives?

The top bar hive is not designed for maximum honey production, although there have been reports otherwise. For the hobby beekeeper a few pounds less honey are well worth the ease of management. You will harvest more beeswax with a top bar hive though. Any hobbyist should have more of an interest in keeping healthy bees than in squeezing out a few more pounds of honey from a stressed, overworked colony. With just one top bar hive, you will still have more than enough honey for your whole family and friends.