FACTS ABOUT THE REMARKABLE LITTLE BEE (DID YOU KNOW THAT WORKER BEES ARE ALL GIRLS?!!!)

DID YOU KNOW?!!! That a bee has two stomachs?!! Despite many years of bee keeping and savouring their liquid gold it is only recently I learned this little nugget. Ever wondered how she processes all that pollen without mixing her food and the honey? Bees have two stomachs! One for food. The other to store all the nectar she's collecting from the flowers, which will be safely transported back to the hive.

If you ask any of my family who work the bee hives how much of a help I am; they will be very quick to tell you that I and my camera are in a world of our own while the bees are being worked. The dynnamics of this remarkable community intrigues me. Did you know that the only males in Bee Kingdom are the drones! Their sole purpose is procreation. No, they are not the bodyguards of the queen, they are her harem! You can easily distinguish the hard working girlie bees from the drones as drones are slightly bigger, and they don't have a sting. They are only tolerated for the purpose of growing the queens colony.

At the moment many of our fruit trees are budding. I was blessed with some lovely photos at the guava tree where it was virtually vibrating with the dozens of pairs of tiny wings. The bees were methodically working to ultimately make their amazing honey. Did you know that one bee, in her very short lifetime will only make up to half a teaspoon of honey? She will fly hundreds of miles during that short time in serving her queen and her colony. In summer a little worker bee can live up to two months, whereas it is usually double that in winter.

Honey is a powerful natural medicine. It is loaded with antioxidants. It's history goes way back. In the writings of the Babylonians and Indians they record the medicinal power of honey. There is Spanish rock art, thousands of years old, recording the honour paid to the little bee. And it is well known that the ancient Egyptians used honey for embalming, even burying jars of the sweet liquid with their royalty.

We can learn so much from the life of the bee. The value of honey is incredible. Honey is a powerful anti-inflammatory with antibacterial properties. The little bee will sacrifice her entire life, in living and dying, for her colony. The harmony and balance within a hive is also a wonderful testimony to how humans should live and work together. Last week, here in South Africa, farmers painted poisoned molasses on tree trunks to get rid of ants. This horrible act demonstrates the total ignorance of people and intolerance of the world of animals and bugs. The ants were virtually unscathed while hundreds of bee hives were destroyed as the bees fed on the molasses. That means millions upon millions of bees killed by man's selfishness and ignorance. If only human kind would realize that our survival depends on the survival of the bees.