Pollination
The Alnwick Garden
&
Honey
H oney is a marvellous product- it has been revered by humans for millennia , is said to have medicinal and antibacterial properties , and be a good remedy for colds and hay fever . Indeed in the past it has been used for the treatment of wounds . Given the right environmental conditions it will preserve for decades . There has been honey dug up from the Egyptian tombs which is still edible and , as some brave archaeologists would tell us , tasty ! Of course we all know that lovely golden honey is delicious . But how , and why , is this actually made ? To answer this we need to go back to the thousands of small producers , the honey bees .
Honey bees live in colonies in the Roots and Shoots Garden at The Alnwick Garden . They are mainly here for educational reasons and we explain to children and visitors about their importance . You see , bees pollinate one third of all we eat as well as two thirds of wildflowers . Without them we would struggle to harvest enough food to live . Their importance cannot be understated .
A by-product of this is that they also make honey . When the weather is fine and warm they will fly to brightly coloured flowers to collect nectar , a weak sugary syrup which they then carry back to the hive . They then process this by taking out some of the water , adding enzymes and store it into honey combs . It is this process which means the honey can preserve for such a long time .
We ’ ve perhaps all seen honey comb in wax candles or as polish . Bees-wax honey comb ,
Words : Peter Edge , Plant Centre Manager
crafted by the bees , is a wonder in itself . It is very light , very strong and makes perfect storage containers for honey . It takes a lot of energy and honey to produce this wax . For every pound of wax made a bee needs to use eight pounds of honey . And for every pound of honey made , a bee must travel 55,000 miles and visit two million flowers . This is a humbling thought first thing in the morning when you ’ re spreading it onto your toast , or perhaps lighting a bees-wax candle to celebrate the solstice !
The amount of honey that bees make is dependent on weather , the health of the hive and the number of flowering plants they can visit . The reason they make this is for their own winter survival . Bees don ’ t hibernate , rather they huddle together , perhaps like penguins . They vibrate to keep warm and consume the honey they have made over the summer . Honey also contains vitamins essential for bee health . They naturally produce a surplus , but it is very important that we as beekeepers don ’ t take too much from them during the season .
With the effort that goes into making and storing the honey it seems only appropriate that there is a considerable effort to take it out of the comb and then jar it up . We have certainly found this to be the case . The process took a lot of effort and sticky fingers ! Look out for local honey in the shop , think how amazing it is , and if you see some bees in the garden don ’ t forget to say hello and think of the wonderful work that they are doing .
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