Finding Beauty in Our Community
On any given summer day, we can step outside and find a bee working hard for the good of its hive. They also work for our good pollinating our gardens, fields, woodlands, and 80% of our crops in addition to sharing their liquid gold – honey.
A single bee visits from 50 to over 1000 flowers for every trip it makes to the hive. Some claim even more. Making an average of 10 trips per day, flying to and from at 15 to 20 mph, its wings beating at a rate of 130 to 230 times per second. It has only a short, four to six week life span. All this effort produces just one to two teaspoons of honey. Honey making, is achieved by the bee gathering the nectar and mixing it with digestive enzymes from their honey stomach. It is then stored in the honeycombs, where it evaporates into a thick syrup while the bees fan it with their wings before the cell of the comb is sealed with wax. A single hive may contain 40 to 45,000 bees.
This perfect system, is now threatened by Colony Collapse Disorder; an unexplained colony loss. There is some controversy as to the cause and recent studies indicate some pesticides are harmful to bees. I encourage you to do your own, online search to find more on the subject. One easy way to help is to support our local beekeepers. For local honey visit our farmers market on Fridays, before the season ends October 25. A few of the many vendors sell local honey.
http://www.ci.schaumburg.il.us/hfun/fun1/pages/farmers%20market.aspx
Schaumburg has a Community Bee Yard where you can maintain your own beehive.
http://www.ci.schaumburg.il.us/GreCorn/Green1/Pages/CommunityBeeYard.aspx
For more info about being a Beekeeper in Schaumburg click here: http://www.ci.schaumburg.il.us/GreCorn/Green1/Pages/Beekeeping%20in%20Schaumburg.aspx
The health benefits of raw honey are vast. From folklore, to scientific proof, it is praised for anti-viral, anti-bacterial, and anti-fungal properties.
It is time to put a little honey in my tea.
All the Best,
Laura
Invitation – If you know of something in Schaumburg that leaves you awestruck and want to share, please comment here and join this portal to our beautiful world.
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