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Frequently Asked Questions
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As beekeepers we hear all sorts of questions about honeybees and raw honey. Here are the answers to some of the questions we've heard. We are still expanding this website so check back with us often. More answers are on the way.
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Q
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How do bees make honey?
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A
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Honey bees collect the sweet nectar from various floral sources with their strawlike tongue or proboscus. The nectar mixes with enzymes in their honey stomach and is then transported back to the beehive and put in cells. The bees fan the cells full of the liquid nectar drawing the moisture out and thickening the nectar to make honey.
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Q
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How do bees collect pollen?
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Honeybees are covered with tiny hairs all over their body, even their eyes. Pollen sticks to these hairs as the bee crawls around on a bloom . The pollen particles are moistened with nectar and are then brushed down to baskets on the hind legs. The bee will collect its weight in pollen.
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Q
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Why do bees collect pollen?
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Bees will search for and collect only high quality pollen (or pollen filled with only the best sources of amino acids )to take back to the hive. Bees mix honey and or nectar with the pollen and pack it down into cells. This is known as bee bread and is fed to the queen and baby bees.
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Q
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Where do bees get their wax from?
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Beeswax is a material that is secreted by certain glands of the worker bees abdomen. Wax is secreted after the bee consumes relatively large amounts of honey or nectar. 8-10 pounds of honey is said to be consumed to make one pound of wax. Wax glands are at their height of production in bees 12-18 days old.
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Q
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Why do bees need wax?
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Bees need wax for comb building. The comb is necessary for rearing brood (baby bees), storing honey and pollen.
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Q
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How many bees are in a hive?
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A strong hive will have approximately 50,000 - 60,000 bees. Including one queen, 1,000's of drones and 10,000's of worker bees.
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Q
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Do you feed your bees sugar water?
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No, this practice is not necessary in South FLorida where there is an almost constant year round floral source available. We never strip our hives of all honey. We leave honey on the beehives so they will have food for cooler months.
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Q
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How is honey a natural moisturizer?
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A
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Honey is a non-oily moisturizer due to its hygroscopic properties. This means that honey draws moisture from the air creating a greater moisture content on the surface of the skin. Moisturizing is achieved without the use of oils or fats as is the case with commercial moisturizing products.
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Q
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How do we use beeswax?
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Beeswax is used in cosmetics, creams , ointments , lip products, and candles(especially church candles, which require the purest sources of light for religious ceremonies). Pharmaceuticals such as salves and ointments. In the dental trade, as a component of impression wax. Polishes for floors, shoes, leather, furniture , ect... Beeswax waterproofs and preserves.
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Q
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Does honey ever spoil?
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No honey does not spoil . It was actually found in Ancient Egyptian Tombs. Raw honey will darken over time but still remain edible. Honey does not spoil due to the enzyme invertase, which is incorporated by the honeybee during the nectar gathering and is still active after honey is extracted. The action of the enzyme invertase changes the sucrase (a type of sugar) into two simple sugars, glucose and fructose, thus creating honey.
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