The Term “Honeymoon” Began With Norse Practice Of Eating Huge Quantities Of Honey During First Month Of Marriage.

World Honey Bee Day on the third Saturday in August brings a buzzing celebration for beekeepers, honey lovers, and all blooming things.

The day recognizes both the honey bee and the beekeepers who tend the hives. It also encourages everyone to enjoy and buy locally grown honey.

• Honey bees do sting, but only if they perceive a threat – damage to their hive or being swatted at. Since they seek sweet nectar, sugary drinks and sweets will attract honey bees when flowers are not blooming yet.  So, keep your beverages covered. If a honey bee comes close, either hold still or move slowly away. The honey bee will fly along to the next sweet thing as long as it doesn’t feel threatened.
• High-quality honey offers a number of benefits because of the antioxidants that are included. These include phenolic compounds, such as flavonoids, as well as organic acids.
• The antioxidants that are found in honey have been linked to lowering the risk of strokes, heart attacks, and some forms of cancer. They are also believed to assist in terms of eye health.
• There have also been studies that have shown that honey can help to improve your cholesterol levels. If you have high LDL cholesterol levels, then you are going to be at a greater risk of having heart disease. There are more and more studies that are showing that honey can help to enhance your cholesterol levels.
• Honey cannot only benefit you in terms of consuming it, but it has been used for many years as a topical treatment for healing burns and wounds. In fact, this can be dated back to Ancient Egypt. Researchers have concluded that the healing powers of honey come from the anti-inflammatory and antibacterial effects it has, as well as its ability to nourish the tissue that surrounds the wounded area.
• The honey bee is the only insect that produces food eaten by man.
• A honey bee can fly for up to six miles, and as fast as 15 miles per hour, hence it would have to fly around 90,000 miles -three times around the globe – to make one pound of honey.
• It takes one ounce of honey to fuel a bee’s flight around the world.
• Honey is 80% sugars and 20% water.
• Honey bees must consume about 17-20 pounds of honey to be able to biochemically produce each pound of beeswax.
• A populous colony may contain 40,000 to 60,000 bees during the late spring or early summer.
• The queen bee lives for about 2-3 years. She is the busiest in the summer months, when the hive needs to be at its maximum strength and lays up to 2500 eggs a day.
• The queen may mate with up to 17 drones over a 1-2 day period of mating.
• The queen may lay 600-800 or even 1,500 eggs each day during her 3 or 4 year lifetime. This daily egg production may equal her own weight. She is constantly fed and groomed by attendant worker bees
• Worker honey bees live for about 4 weeks in the spring or summer but up to 6 months during the winter.
• The average honey bee will actually make only one twelfth of a teaspoon of honey in its lifetime.
• Honey bees fly at up to 15 miles per hour
• The Honey bee’s wings stroke 11,400 times per minute, thus making their distinctive buzz.
• A honey bee visits 50 to 100 flowers during a collection trip.
• Fermented honey, known as Mead, is the most ancient fermented beverage.
• The term “honeymoon” originated with the Norse practice of consuming large quantities of Mead during the first month of marriage.
• Honey bees are also brilliant boogiers! To share information about the best food sources, they perform their ‘waggle dance’. When the worker returns to the hive, it moves in a figure-of-eight and waggles its body to indicate the direction of the food source. Cool, huh?
• Bees have 5 eyes
• Bees are insects, so they have 6 legs
• Male bees in the hive are called drones
• Losing its stinger will cause a bee to die
• Bees have been here about 30 million years!
• Bees carry pollen on their hind legs in a pollen basket or corbicula
• Average per capita honey consumption in the US is 1.3 pounds
• Bees have 2 pairs of wings

Sources:

National Day Calendar

Days of the Year

American Bee Journal

NatGeoKids

Honeybee Net