Ever Considered Beekeeping?

Recently I reviewed an interesting article about honeybees. This particular discussion was not about the benefits of beekeeping. Rather, it was discussing the effect of small and simple efforts to produce an important effect. It did, however, get me thinking of other beneficial aspects of beekeeping! The article was spiritual in nature, based on how great things are brought about and burdens are lightened through the efforts of many hands anxiously engaged in a good cause:

“Honeybees are driven to pollinate, gather nectar, and condense the nectar into honey. It is their magnificent obsession imprinted into their genetic makeup by our Creator. It is estimated that to produce just one pound (0.45 kg) of honey, the average hive of 20,000 to 60,000 bees must collectively visit millions of flowers and travel the equivalent of two times around the world. Over its short lifetime of just a few weeks to four months, a single honeybee’s contribution of honey to its hive is a mere one-twelfth of one teaspoon.

Though seemingly insignificant when compared to the total, each bee’s one-twelfth of a teaspoon of honey is vital to the life of the hive. The bees depend on each other. Work that would be overwhelming for a few bees to do becomes lighter because all of the bees faithfully do their part.” (M. Russell Ballard)

Excellent message...and interesting insight in the work of honeybees! Let's look a little deeper at the working side of their job! Among the resources that I reviewed, I found an organization promoting urban beekeeping... http://honeylove.org/bees/ . HoneyLove.org shares the following:

Fun Facts About Honeybees

• Bees pollinate 80% of the world’s plants including 90 different food crops.
• 1 out of every 3 or 4 bites of food you eat is thanks to bees.
• The honey bee is responsible for $15 billion in U.S. agricultural crops each year.
• Honey is the only food that does not spoil (bacteria can’t grow in it, and because of it’s low moisture content and low pH – honey can last indefinitely).
• Bees maintain a temperature of 92-93 degrees Fahrenheit in their central brood nest regardless of whether the outside temperature is 110 or -40 degrees.
• The honey bee is the only insect that produces food eaten by man.
  

Online beekeeping courses, such as the Penn State Beekeeping 101 course, http://beekeeping101.psu.edu/?gclid=CPTL_6TQ7bUCFfBDMgodpBIAmw , are also available. You have access to great learning opportunities online. These were just a couple of hits on a Google search for “Urban Beekeeping”.

It's hard to imagine any food closer to the source!