“If the bee disappeared off the surface of the globe, then man would only have four years of life left. No more bees, no more pollination, no more plants, no more man.”
— Albert Einstein.
It is a scary thought, and we should always keep in mind that the value of bees pollinating fruits, vegetables and legumes is 10 times the value of honey produced.
The Beekeepers Association knows the value of the honey bee and will be holding the fourth annual Statewide Hawaii Natural Honey Challenge on Nov. 23 from 11 a.m.-5 p.m. at Nani Mau Gardens.
Activities include casting the People’s Choice Honey Tasting Competition, Hawaiian and pop music, kids activities, “bee friendly” plant sale, honey and craft sales, food, beekeeping demonstrations, and classes on beekeeping.
It is important to plant bee-friendly plants in our gardens and use natural methods of controlling pests and weeds. This festival will help us make the right decisions to protect our bees.
Here are some interesting facts provided by the Big Island Beekeepers Association about bees:
— The honey bee is the only insect that produces food eaten by man.
— There are 52 kinds of bees and 16 kinds of honey bees.
— The honey bee’s wings stroke incredibly fast, about 200 beats per second, thus making their famous, distinctive buzz.
— A honey bee can fly for up to six miles, and as fast at 15 miles per hour.
— A honey bee visits 50 to 100 flowers during a collection trip.
— Bees need to provide 70,000 loads of nectar, travel 50,000 mile to produce a single pound of honey. That is equivalent to more than twice around the world to gather a pound of honey.
— Bee colonies have been known to produce up to 300 pounds of honey in a single season.
— Only worker bees sting, and only if they feel threatened and they die once they sting.
—A colony of bees consists of 20,000-60,000 honey bees and one queen. (I would have liked to be there when they counted honey bees!).
—Worker honey bees are female, live for about six weeks and do all the work. Their most common cause of death is wearing their wings out.
— A good worker bee gathers in her entire life 1/10 teaspoon of honey.
— Honey varies in color from white through golden to dark brown and usually the darker the color the stronger the flavor.
— Drones, the only male honey bees, die immediately after mating.
— An industrious worker bee may visit 2,000 flowers per day. She can’t carry pollen from that many flowers at once, so she’ll visit 50-100 flowers before heading home.
— Mead is the wine made from fermented honey.
— Drambie is the Scotch Liqueur made with honey.
— Bees have four wings, six legs, two stomachs.
— A prolific queen can lay up to 3,000 eggs per day. It takes three days for an egg to hatch; eight days from when the queen lays an egg for the larvae to be capped; 21 days from the queen lays an egg for a worker bee to emerge from the cell; 24 days from when the queen lays an egg for a drone to emerge from the cell; 16 days from when the queen lays an egg for a virgin queen to emerge from the cell.
— Honey bees create wax in little flakes from glands under their abdomen.
— Honey bees cannot see the color white. That is why it is good to wear in the summer. That is also why bee suits are white.
— Honey can last indefinitely if stored correctly; at less than 18.5 percent moisture content.
— Honey should not be fed to babies under the age of 1 year due to the botulin toxin.
— Honey has been used for medicine by the Egyptians as far back as 5,000 years. Ancient Egyptians and Greeks used honey to embalm their dead.
— Honey is very good for burns, abrasions, and indigestion. Honey has bee used as a treatment for open wounds, including war wounds. Knights of the Crusade used honey as wound dressing and found it was an effective treatment.
— The sting of the honey bee is used for arthritis, which is called apitherapy.
— Honey is an effective antimicrobial agent, which inhibits growth of bacteria. Honey has been proven to exhibit significant inhibitory effects on the bacteria that cause gastric ulcers.
— Honey is a “perfect food” which contains: large amounts of vitamins, being particularly rich in vitamins B and C, as well as vitamin A, beta-carotene, D, E, and K.
— Varieties can contain as much as 300 milligrams of vitamin C per 100 grams of honey.
— Honey has all the B-complex that are needed in the system for digestion and metabolism of sugar.
— Honey is rich in mineral such as calcium, phosphorus, magnesium, potassium, silicon, iron potassium, iodine, and manganese.
After all this information about honey bees, it is very important that we do all we can to protect their existence and the more we are educated about it, the better we will be able to be sure they will be around for generations! Please attend the festival to become an informed and responsible bee person!
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Here is a marinade for your favorite cut of chicken or pork or for your Thanksgiving turkey.
Honey, Soy, and Orange Marinade
Combine all ingredients in a bowl, whisk to emulsify, use to marinate or baste a turkey:
1 cup orange juice
2 tablespoons peanut oil
2 cloves garlic, crushed and chopped
1/4 cup white wine vinegar
3 tablespoons low sodium soy sauce
1/2 cup Hawaiian honey
White pepper, to taste
FOODIE BITES
On Wednesday, Nov. 27, the Hawaii Community College Cafeteria will be serving Thanksgiving lunch for $8.95. Lunch pick-up is 10:30 a.m.-1 p.m. Whole pumpkin pies on sale for $7.25 and dinner rolls for $3 a dozen can be picked up on Wednesday, Nov. 27, from 10 a.m.-1 p.m., but you must be ordered by 4 p.m. on Monday, Nov. 25.
Please feel free to e-mail me at wilson.audrey@hawaiiantel.net if you have a question. Bon appetit until next week.
