Bees and a Bee Quiz!

The past two weeks we have been as busy as bees... with bees! So I thought I would give you all a Bee Quiz (see below!)

We have harvested honey from several different places, which has been quite exciting! Our honey is dark, which means it has a stronger flavour. The taste and colour of the honey depends on what the bees forage for. Our bees like the mango trees, which have loads of pollen.

Bees can make their homes in many different kinds of places! In trees, in hives, in logs, in the eaves of houses (the roof), even in tires! And we even had a colony of stingless bees dangling from our dining room windowsill!

I got to help harvest honey and wax from two hives up on top of a container. It was awesome, and very fun. We got a fair bit of honey and mum was bee-side herself with joy! We took the bucket of honeycomb home to filter the honey through into a clean bucket. Then we processed the wax by putting the whole lot of comb left over in boiling water, straining it through a sack and then cooling it down until the wax settled on top of the water.

Here is me climbing up onto the container!

No one fell off!

Here is Louisa all dressed up in the gear and ready to go!

While the others were in the process of harvesting honey in a village called Malya, I got stung! A random bee flew to where I was standing! Look at my face!

You can't really see very well in this picture, but my face was quite swollen!

Bee keeping, in my opinion, is a very good business. It is fun to plan, to harvest and process... and very sweet to eat! We all enjoy that bit!


Yummy!

Just like Winnie the Pooh!

Honey straight off the honeycomb!

Here are some quizzes for you. There is an easier one and a harder one. You can post your answers in the comments below.

EASY BEE QUIZ!!!

1. What is a group of bees called?
2. Who is the leader of a group of bees?
3. Name 2 products bees make.
4. What do bees collect to make honey?
5. What shape do bees store their honey in?

HARDER BEE QUIZ!!

1. What gender are all worker bees?
2. How do bees show other bees how to find food?
3. What is uncapped honey called?
4. Name 2 things that happen after a bee stings you.
5. Name 2 things we can make from bee's wax.

 I will post the answers in my next blog.

BEE FACTS!!!

• A hive will produce up to 500 pounds of honey a year.
• Antarctica is the only continent in the world that doesn't have any bees.
• Only drones can mate with the queen
• There are three kinds of honey bees: worker bees, drones and the queen
• It takes the nectar of over 1 million of flowers to make 1 pound of honey

Do you know any other interesting bee facts?

Or have any questions about bees?

 

Can You Waggle?

Waggle, waggle, waggle! Can you do the waggle dance? Just go round in a circle and then waggle your bum! Watch the video to see Julian, Mum and Louisa waggling to their hearts content at the bee seminar last weekend!


Waggle Dance from Rachel Monger on Vimeo.

Did you know that the slower bees waggle, the further away the pollen is, and the faster they waggle, the closer the pollen is?

Lots of other interesting things were taught at the Beekeeping Seminar in Kayenze. Louisa and I joined in. We helped to demonstrate what to wear when working on the hives. Louisa lead the singing and read a Bible verse in Swahili. We helped to serve the chai which was chappatis and maandazis with hot sweet tea. It was yummy! Louisa helped to melt the wax on the three-stone fire outside while I helped to pour melted wax into the grooves of the top-bars. It was a good weekend and we had a lot of fun with Julian and Zoe!

 

 

Pouring wax onto the top bars

Hanging the hive in the trees by Lake Victoria

Kayenze Beekeeper Group Singing from Rachel Monger on Vimeo.

Two of my baby bunnies have just been sold! The two boys, that we had named Star and Sprinkles are now living in a well-built hutch with an adoring owner. She loves them like CRAZY!!! I bet they will get spoilt ;) I am glad they have gone to someone I know will love them.

I will keep the other ones, the three girls called Snuffles, Snuggles and Sprinkles (2) and I am so happy as they are my favourite! Snuffles is completely black except for a white star on her forehead and her two white paws. Snuggles is white and ginger and Sprinkles 2 is blacky-brown and white.