Pollination commencing

Pear tree

Interesting bee info

Honey is floral nectar cooked down into a thick carbohydrate soup. How many flowers are needed to make honey? A lot. More than most of us can easily comprehend. To survive a year, a single colony brings in about 250 pounds of nectar- an astounding weight for a small insect. It’s not as though individual flowers are generous with nectar, either. Most yield just the smallest of droplets. A standard jar of honey from the supermarket requires bees to make a million flower visits. A colony might produce 50 to 100 such jars per year.

BBQ chicken.

Speaking of honey. A little honey BBQ in order.

Pollen baskets full, this worker gets ready to deposit her load.

 Alex gets close and personal for his first look at unenclosed colony.

 Shown here is some brood already on March 17th, because of the warm weather.

Clarence, the apiarist teacher points out some of the intricacies of the colony.