With the weather improving, our trusted bee keeper, Lisa McKenzie took a trip up to the field in Thringstone, just after our mammoth planting session recently.
In this our first post of 2025, we talk about the beauty of bees.
With 6,500 trees in the ground, now absorbing around 162,500 kg of carbon every year back in 2024 we decided it was time to look at ways to expand the benefits of a nature places.
We had a successful year for the 2024-2025 with David, The Bee Farmer, McDowell, and Lisa McKenzie, producing many hundreds of jars of honey which proved to be extremely popular at farmers markets and with our customers.
So as we start 2025, Lisa shared a recording confirming that the Queen is laying, we have four frames of brood (this refers to the eggs, larvae and pupae of the honeybees), the Queen excluder is now in place (means the Queen can’t get through but her daughters are able to.
As with all things to do with bees, we found it very interesting, and with every day a school day there’s likely something in there for all of our followers to learn. On that basis we are once again sharing a few facts about bees that compliments what we have shared previously about trees; so bees and trees.
+ Bees are insects with 6 legs, 2 pairs of wings, and branched hairs.
+ Only female bees have stingers, which are modified egg-laying organs.
+ Bees are closely related to wasps and ants, and belong to the clade Anthophila.
+ Bees are important pollinators, carrying pollen from flower to flower on their legs and body.
+ Bees can produce honey by following a 10-step process that involves collecting nectar, regurgitating it, and evaporating it.
+ Bees have been around for about 30 million years, and there are 20,000 distinct species of them.
+ Bees are facing threats from habitat loss, pesticides, diseases, and climate change. This is one of the reasons we wanted to provide land and a safe space for the apiary.
For those wanting to learn more about bees then don’t hesitate to contact David, The Bee Farmer, McDowell using the details on the website link https://lnkd.in/eGD4fXrX and if you’d like to see more about Co-Treetment then use the link here https://lnkd.in/eqa4BEbX
And if you have liked what we have posted, then watch out for further updates which we’ll aim to post out regularly.
Simon Evans MBA
Darrell Taylor
Keith Cox
David, The Bee Farmer, McDowell
