A group of my dearest friends and I drove out to Chinook Honey Co. yesterday and shared in a picnic, an educational tour about the life of bees in a colony and a tour of Chinook Arch Meadery.
The educational tour was enlightening. I have become really interested in the life of bees since viewing the film, The Vanishing Bees at the Marda Loop Social Justice film days. You can access the entire documentary on YouTube. I learned more specific information about honey bees, their specific hierarchy and the roles of each type of bee in the hive.
Sharing the details that I learned may show my ignorance…but, I’m also pretty excited to be continuing to learn.
I didn’t know that the worker bees are all female.
I didn’t know that the queen bee that emerges first, kills all other prospective royals and even the existing queen (if weak, old and unproductive).
I didn’t know that the life span of any given bee is only six weeks and that the constant production of new bees is paramount to the life of the colony.
I didn’t know that bees prefer to forage canola more than alfalfa. Alfalfa is structured in such a way that when gathering from the plant, the bee is bopped in the noggin over and over again. So, if in close proximity (within five kms. of the hive), the bee will prefer to forage canola. The unfortunate thing, however, is that canola is being genetically modified while the alfalfa farmers seem to have made a commitment to sustain a natural crop. Once the bees engage in genetically modified plants, there seems to be an issue with pollination success rates.
I was amazed by the size of colonies and the activities within the colonies, in the production of wax and honey. I am awed by the specifics of the various processes and the overall industry of the hive.
From this session, we went on to the meadery and learned about the process of making mead, an art that has been perfected for centuries. We had opportunity to test from a generous list of mead produced on site. This was a fun event!
Top the entire day off with a bit of gift shopping and yummy honey and Saskatoon berry icec ream scooped into the cone and it was an excellent day. I cherish my friends and wish them good health and many adventures on their retirement.