In the fields surrounding Avonlea farm bees take their treasures back to their hives to make the liquid gold we call honey.
Though I love honey and buy many organic jars of the beautiful stuff, I had never really thought about a bee's life and how needed they are.
Luella prepares to smoke the hives to calm the bees.
Once the bees are calmed, they start looking to see how much honey there is and if it's ready to be harvested.
With the bees still on the comb, Pavo decides it's time to shake them loose and put this one away to harvest the honey.
Once back at the barn, Luella combs off the wax so she can extract the honey. She leaves just enough wax on the comb for the bees to store more food for winter and have enough warmth from the wax to survive the long cold dark winters of Sweden.
This one is ready for the extractor.
A honey extractor.
A bucket at the bottom of the extractor catches the honey.
All in an afternoon's work.
The only time I really think of bees is when I'm working in the garden. Their buzzing signals a welcome sign of a healthy garden. I deliberately plant flowering plants and trees which attract the bees. Though I've heard occasionally that the earth's bee population is dwindling due to " cell phone" usuage, I hadn't given it much thought other than this urban myth.
Over the weekend I picked up the "Friday, What's Happening in the Area" paper with the cover story "What's Killing Our Bees?" Once inside I was informed that since 2005, 35% of Tennessee bees have been dying. Luckily for us here in Tennessee we have a research lab at U.T. who are trying to figure out why bee colony collapse is happening. It isn't just Tennessee but it has been happening throughout the United States and heavily hit in California. On the global level it is becoming so extreme that China is now hand pollinating it's fruit trees. Though there are many speculations as to what could be killing the bees, the fingers are pointing at fertilization of crops and a european bee disease called foulbrood. Here's the bottom line....without bees, we will not have food.
Ok, I know this is pretty gloomy talk for a Monday but I promise to turn this around. While in Sweden this summer I had my very first occasion to see how honey was made. In Sweden the problem isn't bee collapse but a shortage of beekeepers. Sweden has offered to pay for the education of anyone who would like to keep bees so that the tradition remains living and well. Luella has been raising bees for two seasons now and was happy to let me watch. It was a fascinating experience and immediately created a connection with honey and the bees that I hadn't had previously.
Being totally mesmerized by the "Bee World", I understand that our survival is truly based on their survival.
By purchasing local organic vegetables, fruit, and honey we are helping to sustain their world. This is a very simple step I realize but I've just begun researching this issue and I know that in the space of a little blog post I have definately over simplified things. I want to know more. If any of you have any information on how to restore the bee population or great bee websites please let me know in the comment section. Bee Happy and have a great day.
