Drones! Mechanical drones can hover over industrial installations, carrying out inspections. Others are involved in armed conflict in war torn areas. None of these are as interesting as the original. Drones, in fact, are the only male bees in a bee colony. They are larger than worker bees, do not forage, cannot sting, and are thrown out of the colony when resources become scarce. Their only function is to fertilize virgin queens. Nevertheless, like all honey bees, they are intriguing creatures. Fertilization of the virgin queen takes place inflight where she mates with as many as 15 drones. This occurs on one or two flights and she never mates afterwards. Each drone supplies between five and eight million sperm, enough for the lifetime of a queen, yet she mates multiple times. She returns to the colony where only the stronger sperm make it to her spermatheca where they are stored, ensuring quality offspring. The rest are discarded. Worker bees go to great lengths to make sure that large quantities of healthy drones are produced during the mating season. They are given a high protein diet both at the larval stage and as young males. This guarantees a high-quality, healthy sperm count which peaks when drones are about two weeks old. By this time the drones are making between three and six mating flights every day. They get together in drone congregating areas (DCA) about 30 to 60 meters in the air and wait for virgin queens to arrive. There are about 10,000 drones in one of these DCAs at any one time with another 5,000 on their way back to the hive to refuel on nectar or return to the DCA. It takes, therefore, 15,000 drones to make up a good liming spot. Drones establish their DCAs close to the colonies from which they come whereas virgin queens visit far off DCAs. This avoids in-breeding which would produce weak offspring. What intriguing creatures bees are!
… Gordon Deane
Bee Fact!
Bees helped make the dictionary Beeswax is produced as white flakes from glands under a young bee’s abdomen and gradually turns golden. The word “sincere” was influenced by bee’s wax. In the past, sculptors would use bleached bee’s wax to hide mistakes in their sculptures. So, having a statue without wax or “sine cera” was a source of sculptor’s pride.
What our beekeeper has been up to
… Dr. Jo-Anne Sewlal
To place an order email us at: elsiesfinest@gmail.com
Our beekeeper is know for DIY. His homemade Solar Wax Melter channels sunlight though the transparent lid to heat beeswax until it melts. Beeswax has a range of uses from waxing surfboards to making beauty products. In fact, a candle made entirely of our melted wax has already been lit!
News from the Apiary! — Gordon Deane It has been a dizzying time in the apiary since the honey flow began. Picture this: frames full of honey removed weekly from the colonies, honey extracted, and empty frames returned to be filled again by the bees. This routine is repeated over and over during the honey flow. At the same time, we monitor the environment to ensure that sufficient forest trees are blooming. After all, when the flowering ceases, the honey flow ends. The colonies are also regularly inspected to avoid overcrowding. Where this is discovered, brood from the stronger colonies is removed and placed in weaker ones to discourage swarming. Despite our Inspecting the Nucs efforts, new queen cells were detected in a few colonies. Early detection allowed us to split these and other colonies before they could swarm, and we set up new Nucleus colonies or “Nucs”, which are essentially smaller colonies. We have set up 13 Nucs and those which successfully produce a queen will become part of our producing colonies next year. The first part of the honey flow ended by mid-June and now both Nucs and full colonies are being fed to sustain and strengthen them. Early August usually brings flowering of the Mora forest. At that time, bees once more forage for food. Another cycle of honey extraction begins, and colonies are closely monitored for swarming. Perhaps a few more Nucs might even be created. After this comes a long period of feeding, developing the Nucs, general maintenance, and getting ready for the 2019 honey flow. The work never ends for the beekeeper, but these little bees work much harder than we do.
Testimonial After trying several brands of honey previously I can honestly say this is the best I’ve ever had. Clearly harvested to perfection. Seamus Clarke Managing Director ARK Outsourcing Ltd.
Health Tips! Cure that cough today! Can’t stop coughing? The World Health Organization (WHO) has identified honey as a possible treatment for cough. Even better, honey has none of the side-effects of over-the-counter cough medicines. You can also combine honey with lemon for a homemade cough syrup that relieves irritated or inflamed throats and kills bacteria. ... Breanne Mc Ivor
Elsie’s Finest Honey, $180 for a 750 ml bottle & $65 for a 200 ml bottle.
In This Issue Managing Editor Dr Jo-Anne N. Sewlal BSc., MPhil., Ph.D., FLS., CBiol., CSci., MRSB., FRES., FRGS., FBNA., R. Anim. Sci., MIEnvSc. Content Editor: Breanne Mc Ivor MA (Cantab), MSc (Edin) Layout Design: Dr. Jo-Anne Sewlal Contributors: Gordon Deane, Seamus Clarke, Breanne Mc Ivor, and Dr. Jo-Anne Sewlal