Beeeeeeez

A honey bee lives an average of 4 months. The bee buzzes (smile) through four stages of life. In the first, the bee is too weak to gather nectar so it builds the honey combs. When strong enough the bee starts receiving honey from the forager bees and eventually becomes a forager itself. Finally, the bees that are too old to fly out to flowers become thieves. They steal honey from other hives. This requires the work of a professional con. Bees have guards that watch over the nest. They can scent an intruding bee.

Bees take their last romantic journey to a flower, store nectar in pockets on their legs but lack the strength to carry the nectar back to the hive. They often die in mid-flight.

A friend came over for tea last Sunday and shared some interesting stories about bees. Of course, he left some bee jelly. We ate it within a day. Our family averages a gallon of honey a week, when it’s available. My grandmother distributes honey from a producer in Florida.