Amazing
Bee Facts
- A typical beehive houses from 15,000 and 50,000 bees.
- There is only one reproductive, the queen, in each hive.
- The queen can lay from 1500 to 3000 eggs per day.
- The life span of a worker honeybee is only 4 to 6 weeks during the summer,
and as many months in the winter.
- A bee can produce less than one quarter teaspoon honey in her lifespan.
- Man's first alcoholic beverage, Mead is a wine made with honey.
- The six sided hex shape of honeycomb is the strongest shape per material
weight.
- All the bees in the hive are female except the drones.
- Utah in the USA, known as the beehive state, has a skep as its state emblem.
- Drones, the male bee, make up only about 1/4 of 1% of the hive population
- The queen bee can live up to 3 or 4 years. She mates with from 12 to20 drones
only at the beginning of her life and stores the sperm for continued use.
- It takes 8 to 10 pounds of nectar to make a pound of honey.
- It takes 8 to 10 pounds of honey to make a pound of beeswax.
- To produce a pound of honey, bees travel about 55,000 miles, and visit some
2 million flowers.
- The average American consumes about 1.3 lbs. of honey per year.
- Approximately 250,000 beekeepers in the USA manage about 3 million colonies.
- The term "super" to a beekeeper is one of several boxes stacked to form
a hive.
- It takes 21 days from the laying of the egg for the adult worker bee to
emerge.
- The first duty of an adult worker in the hive is as a nurse bee.
- A honeybee can fly about 25 mph (21.7 knots).
- One ounce of honey would fuel honeybee flight nearly around world.
- Honeybees were called white man's flies by Native American Indians.
- They can forage as far as 4 miles from the hive.
- Pollen is used as protein by the bees.
- Pollen is mixed with honey to make a bread to feed developing larva.
- The eggs are the size of a quarter of a grain of rice.
- A queen cell has about the size and appearance of a peanut shell.
- A queen is fed royal jelly throughout it's development and life span .
- A drone, comes from an unfertilized egg, and has no stinger.
- Drones do not feed themselves, like the queen, they are fed by worker bees.
- The sole function of a drone is to mate with a Virgin queen bee.
- Upon mating about 1000 feet up in the air, the drone falls to the ground
dead.
- Melting at 145 deg. F. beeswax is a natural wax, with the highest burning
temp.
- The Catholic Church uses one million lbs. of beeswax per year for making
candles.
- Beeswax is also used in the making of cosmetics and polishes.
- Beeswax is an excellent lubricant for sliding doors and windows.
- Beeswax is used as a dressing for fan belts and other car parts.
- Propolis made from tree sap is used as a glue inside the hive.
- Propolis is also used in the pharmaceutical industry.
- Bees keep the brood rearing area at about 95 degrees F. and 50% relative
humidity.
- During hot days the bees bring in drops of water and fan them to cool and
humidify the hive.
- A smoker is used to blow smoke into the hive, to calm the bees.
- Bee pollination is vital to maintain the variety of crops this nation enjoys.
- The word HONEY is found in 56 Bible verses.
Know your Beeswax
- To help prevent food from sticking to fry pans or waffle irons rub beewax
on hot pan, and wipe with a clean cloth.
- Beeswax dissolved in cleaning fluid to the consistency of a thin paste makes
the finest floor and furniture wax. Beeswax makes needles easier to sew with.
Toughens and preserves thread and makes it easier to thread sewing needles.
- Helps keep sewing machine, vacuum cleaner and other power belts from slipping.
- Beewax on irons helps prevent sticking to starched clothing. To apply: rub
on heated iron, wipe clean with a cloth.
- Waterproofs fish line, clotheslines, shoes and leather articles; eases sticking
doors and windows.
- Lubricates and rust proofs tools, particularly saws and wood bits.
- Makes screws easy to drive into hard or green wood.
- Polishes waxes skis, snowboard, toboggans, etc...
- Archers use it on bow strings. Seals tree wounds, grafts and budding.
- Stops plumbing leaks. Indispensable for wood grainers, auto-body and fender
men. yachtsmen, cobblers sail makers,and many others.
- Beeswax melts at 145 degrees F. and Flashes at 563 degrees F.
Copyright © 1997 - 99 by Stan Umlauft. All rights reserved
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