My First Teacher Honey, twenty-five dollars a bottle! The customers arrived at our home on Roberts Street in Woodbrook, calling at the front gate to get their supply. Friends, neighbours and people we did not know but who had heard that good honey was available at a reasonable price showed up regularly. My father, Alva Deane, was a beekeeper. You could say that we were all beekeepers since the entire family was involved in the project. My mother Elsie, as well as sisters, Judy and Christine, along with brothers Colin and Neil were all involved. The braver ones among us joined him in the apiary while others carried the heavy boxes containing frames of honey (including the occasional bee) to the little estate house for extraction. I can still remember my mother spinning the centrifugal extractor and the smell of that fresh honey as it was spun out of the frames. Alva Deane was a Chartered Accountant and a senior public servant. He had a passion for agriculture and purchased a parcel of land in Cumana, Toco in 1955. He grew cocoa, citrus and Julie mangoes, none of which were really a financial success but helped to pay the cost of keeping the land in good order. In 1972 he met Mr. De Matas who kept Italian bees at his home in Duke Street, in Port of Spain and decided to take it up himself. With Alva Deane instructions from the Apiaries Division of the Ministry of Agriculture, he began. He bought his equipment from Mr Butcher in Barataria, assembled his boxes and frames and set up his apiary #749 comprising of 10 Colonies. Upon the arrival of the highly defensive African bees in Trinidad, like many other beekeepers, he ceased operations. His main concern being the danger these new bees may have posed to his family. Today beekeepers, including myself, successfully manage these very Africanized bees which inhabit the island. Like my father, my family can also say that they are beekeepers since in one way or another, they are actively involved. … Gordon Deane
What our beekeeper has been up to
Bee Fact!
All the better to see you with…. Did you know that bees have five eyes? They have two compound eyes, like flies and wasps, which are made up of thousands of individual lenses or facets. Workers have between 4,000 – 6,000 and drones have between 7,000 - 8,600 facets. The advantage of having compound eyes is that bees are very good at detecting movement. If a honey bee were to look at a movie, it would be able to see it frame by frame. Located above their compound eyes are three simple eyes or ocelli like those also found in many species of spiders. This type of eye can detect light intensity but not images. … Dr. Jo-Anne Sewlal
News from the Apiary! — Gordon Deane The dry season is here and a long harsh one is predicted. While WASA is hurriedly fixing leaks like never before, our bees are delighted at the early flowering of various species of forest flora which occur at this time. The flowering began as early as last December with many areas of secondary forest seeming to flower, when in fact the covering of pale-yellow flowers were the product of the soap vines which inhabited their upper branches. The bees foraged these flowers and produced a dark and highly flavored honey. Now, the white flowers of the Cypre trees can be seen beginning in the west and moving steadily eastward along the Northern Range. The old rubber plantation in Matura is also beginning to shed its leaves; a sign of imminent flowering. The bees will transform this into a light colored, tasty, mild honey. After this comes a few scattered species; Hog Plum, Citrus, Olivier, Cajuka, which should maintain the bee colonies until the next main honey flow is generated by the flowering of the Mora forest. The honey produced from these flowers is particularly sought after and is the favorite of many honey lovers. As we were preparing to release this issue, a major act of Suiting up to extract honey! Beekeepers have to be covered from head to toe. vandalism was discovered at the apiary. This will delay the start of production by two to three weeks at which time your supply of Elsie’s Finest will resume. The process of recovery has already started and a return to full operations should be achieved later this year.
Thank you for your continued loyalty.
Testimonials “Personally for me, I am motivated and inspired about the healing and powerful health benefits I have derived from using this honey. I use it every day; it increases my metabolism and accelerates my energy level. I am appreciative of this just because of my extremely busy schedule. I've been introduced to Elsie's honey by the owner and beekeeper Gordon, 2 years ago and have not stopped using it since. I would recommend anyone to try this honey...it's simply pure and absolutely delicious." … His Worship, The Mayor of Port of Spain, Alderman Joel Martinez
Elsie’s Finest Honey, $180 for a 750 ml bottle & $65 for a 200 ml bottle.
To place an order email us at:
elsiesfinest@gmail.com
In This Issue
Health Tips! It’s time to take honey out of the kitchen… Use honey’s hydrating powers in the bathtub to leave your skin smooth and soft. Since honey is a natural humectant, it will help retain the skin’s moisture. Just mix one tablespoon of honey with warm water until it becomes runny. Transfer it to your bath. Then soak and enjoy. … Breanne Mc Ivor
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 N. Sewlal Contributors: Gordon Deane; His Worship, Alderman Joel Martiez; Breanne Mc Ivor and Dr. Jo-Anne N. Sewlal