Article From SubmitYOURArticle.com: Small Size, Big Value: The Importance Of Honeybees

Honeybees may just be the most important insects
in the world. We rely on them to offer their
pollination services to help grow vegetables,
fruits, and flowers. They are complicated,
organized, and actually quite social among their
own. In this article we will focus on the
commodities these little critters provide.

The first of these, of course, is the very
popular honey. Even though this product is very
common in the market, it really takes a long time
before this insect completes just a few drops of
this golden sweet.

The first step involves collecting nectar from
flowers, and transporting it back to the hive.
The foraging bee carries this nectar in it's
'honey stomach' adding enzymes as it goes to
start it's transformation into honey. It is then
deposited in a honeycomb cell, where worker bees
fan their wings over the cell until the moisture
content is correct (17-18%). Then the cell is
sealed and the honey is ready to eat.

This product is used in various ways by humans.
It is an easy substitute for sugar, in making
sweets, and even is used for medicinal purposes.

Another popular product from honeybees is the
royal jelly. This substance is secreted by the
glands of the worker bees and was given its name
because it is the sole food source of the queen
bee. It is fed to the mother of the hive during
her larval and whole adult life.

Royal jelly is milky-white in color and has a
bitter taste and prudent acidic smell. In human
consumption, this product is commonly used as
ingredients in creams, cosmetics, lotions, and
even dietary supplements because of their high
vitamins B, C, D, and protein content.

Beeswax is another infamous produce from these
insects and are gathered as secretions from the
waxglands of worker bees. This wax is mainly used
in candle making and in cosmetics like cold
creams, lotions, lipsticks, ointments and also as
coatings for electrical materials and pills.

Honeybees are also the collectors of propolis
which they originally use as glue or sealant for
some cracks on their hives. Gathered from trees
and other plants, this material is very sticky -
as all beekeepers will know, once you get it on
your hands it is very difficult to get off!

When it comes to human use, this produce is used
for medical purposes as dressing for both man and
animal wounds. When added with alcohol tincture,
it is also believed to be a good solution for
hearing problems while it can turn to violin
varnish when mixed with mineral spirits.

The last and probably most important function of
these little workers is pollination. Since many
of other natural pollinators are now becoming
scarce, human kind now depends so much in these
little winged ones to disperse pollen for the
flowers, fruits, and vegetables important for
living. Without them, important crops wouldn't
flourish and food shortages would be a real
possibility.

Indeed, helping to do their bit for both mother
nature and for the human race is one of the
(many) reasons why more and more people have
decided to start beekeeping - why not join them?

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Val Wilson is passionate about all things
beekeeping! It is an incredibly rewarding hobby
in so many ways, so if you would like more
information about how to start beekeeping, and
produce your own honey, go to
http://www.bestbeekeeping.com and sign up for the
FREE 7 day beekeeping ecourse.

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