The above shot is from a moment past noon at the 5th Annual West Seattle Bee Festival, yesterday at the High Point Commons Park.
From behind the glass, I and others watched a beekeeper in action, demonstrating the inner workings of the man-made Langstroth hive box. Here, bees are inside and produce honey inside the hive frames, which are eventually raised and managed (from what I understood, please comment if I am wrong or leaving something important out).
Such activity was fun to watch and interesting the countless little worker bees in the process. Here are some fun facts obtained from the Utah County Beekeepers Association:
- Honeybees are the only insect that produces food for humans.
- To make one pound of honey, the bees in the colony must visit 2 million flowers, fly over 55,000 miles and will be the lifetime work of approximately 768 bees.
- A single honeybee will only produce approximately 1/12 teaspoon of honey in her lifetime.
- Honey bees’ wings stroke 11,400 times per minute, thus making their distinctive buzz.
- Bees communicate with each other by dancing and by using pheromones (scents).
- Honeybees never sleep!
For more bee facts, visit www.utahcountybeekeepers.org.
– Orion T
TRAVELING ORION 