Why should we help the Honey Bee Survive?

[Beeman's wife]

Why should we help the Honey Bee?

In simple terms, the answer seems very obvious; the bees are one of the mos= t important pollinators in the world. =20 We rely on honey bees for one-third of our food supply, so when honey bees = are in danger, we=92re all in danger. The facts in this section will help y= ou educate others on what=92s happening with our honey bees. =20 The honey bee is responsible for $15 billion in U.S. agricultural crops eac= h year. Bees fly approximately 10 to 15 miles per hour and visit about 50= =97100 flowers in each pollination trip. To produce one pound of honey, hon= ey bees must visit two million flowers and fly 55,000 miles. When a honey b= ee returns to the hive after finding a good pollen source, it gives out sam= ples of the flower=92s nectar to its hive mates and performs a dance that d= etails the distance, direction, quality and quantity of the food supply. Th= e richer the food source, the longer and more vigorous dance. =20 Why should we care about honey bees? Bee pollination is responsible for $15= billion in added crop value, particularly for specialty crops such as almo= nds and other nuts, berries, fruits, and vegetables. About one mouthful in = three in our diet directly or indirectly benefits from honey bee pollinatio= n. =20 If honey bee colonies continue to collapse without relief, the impact on ou= r current food sources and agricultural practices will be devastating to ou= r own survival. Some bee facts we should know. Learn how you can help at ht= tp://

=20

1. The honey bee has been around for millions of years.
2. Honey bees, scientifically also known as Apis mellifera, are environment= ally friendly and are vital as pollinators.
3. It is the only insect that produces food eaten by man.
4. Honey is the only food that includes all the substances necessary to sus= tain life, including enzymes, vitamins, minerals, and water; and it=92s the= only food that contains =93pinocembrin=94, an antioxidant associated with = improved brain functioning.
5. Honey bees have 6 legs, 2 compound eyes made up of thousands of tiny len= ses (one on each side of the head), 3 simple eyes on the top of the head, 2= pairs of wings, a nectar pouch, and a stomach. =20
6. Honey bees have 170 odorant receptors, compared with only 62 in fruit fl= ies and 79 in mosquitoes. Their exceptional olfactory abilities include kin= recognition signals, social communication within the hive, and odor recogn= ition for finding food. Their sense of smell was so precise that it could d= ifferentiate hundreds of different floral varieties and tell whether a flow= er carried pollen or nectar from yards away.
7. The honey bees wings stroke incredibly fast, about 200 beats per second,= thus making their famous, distinctive buzz. A honey bee can fly for up to = six miles, and as fast as 15 miles per hour.
8. The average worker bee produces about 1/12th teaspoon of honey in her li= fetime.
9. Foragers must collect nectar from about 2 million flowers to make 1 poun= d of honey.
10. It takes one ounce of honey to fuel a bee=92s flight around the world.
11. A honey bee visits 50 to 100 flowers during a collection trip.
12. The bee=92s brain is oval in shape and only about the size of a sesame = seed, yet it has remarkable capacity to learn and remember things and is ab= le to make complex calculations on distance travelled and foraging efficien= cy.
13. A colony of bees consists of 20,000-60,000 honeybees and one queen. Wor= ker honey bees are female, live for about 6 weeks and do all the work.
14. The queen bee can live up to 5 years and is the only bee that lays eggs= . She is the busiest in the summer months, when the hive needs to be at its= maximum strength, and lays up to 2500 eggs per day.
15. Larger than the worker bees, the male honey bees (also called drones), = have no stinger and do not work at all. All they do is mating.
16. Each honey bee colony has a unique odor for members=92 identification.
17. Only worker bees sting, and only if they feel threatened and they die = once they sting. Queens have a stinger, but they don=92t leave the hive to = help defend it.
18. It is estimated that 1100 honey bee stings are required to be fatal.
19. Honey bees communicate with one another by =93dancing=94.
20. During winter, honey bees feed on the honey they collected during the = warmer months. They form a tight cluster in their hive to keep the queen an= d themselves warm. The more I learn about honey bee facts; honey=92s great = creator -the honey bee itself, its highly organized society, how it acts wi= th such intricate cooperation, and the various bee products, the more I adm= ire and respect this amazing creature. It is no wonder why sometimes the co= lony is called a superorganism.

[Tony Hwang]

important pollinators in the world.

in danger, we?re all in danger. The facts in this section will help you educate others on what?s happening with our honey bees.

year. Bees fly approximately 10 to 15 miles per hour and visit about 50?100 flowers in each pollination trip. To produce one pound of honey, honey bees must visit two million flowers and fly 55,000 miles. When a honey bee returns to the hive after finding a good pollen source, it gives out samples of the flower?s nectar to its hive mates and performs a dance that details the distance, direction, quality and quantity of the food supply. The richer the food source, the longer and more vigorous dance.

billion in added crop value, particularly for specialty crops such as almonds and other nuts, berries, fruits, and vegetables. About one mouthful in three in our diet directly or indirectly benefits from honey bee pollination.

current food sources and agricultural practices will be devastating to our own survival. Some bee facts we should know. Learn how you can help at

environmentally friendly and are vital as pollinators.

sustain life, including enzymes, vitamins, minerals, and water; and it?s the only food that contains ?pinocembrin?, an antioxidant associated with improved brain functioning.

(one on each side of the head), 3 simple eyes on the top of the head, 2 pairs of wings, a nectar pouch, and a stomach.

and 79 in mosquitoes. Their exceptional olfactory abilities include kin recognition signals, social communication within the hive, and odor recognition for finding food. Their sense of smell was so precise that it could differentiate hundreds of different floral varieties and tell whether a flower carried pollen or nectar from yards away.

thus making their famous, distinctive buzz. A honey bee can fly for up to six miles, and as fast as 15 miles per hour.

yet it has remarkable capacity to learn and remember things and is able to make complex calculations on distance travelled and foraging efficiency.

honey bees are female, live for about 6 weeks and do all the work.

She is the busiest in the summer months, when the hive needs to be at its maximum strength, and lays up to 2500 eggs per day.

have no stinger and do not work at all. All they do is mating.

once they sting. Queens have a stinger, but they don?t leave the hive to help defend it.

warmer months. They form a tight cluster in their hive to keep the queen and themselves warm. The more I learn about honey bee facts; honey?s great creator

-the honey bee itself, its highly organized society, how it acts with such intricate cooperation, and the various bee products, the more I admire and respect this amazing creature. It is no wonder why sometimes the colony is called a superorganism. Hi, And it is said, inside hive is cleaner than a hospital operating room.

[Home Guy]

Tony Hwang full-quoted the entire post - just to add 1 line.

Don't be a full-quoter you bone-head.

[Home Guy]

harry was bone-head full-quoter #2.

Fool.

[Stormin Mormon]

(This is probably an email hoax, but it makes good reading.

)

CINNAMON & HONEY -- very interesting!!!

*Cinnamon and Honey* *Whoever thought?*

Honey is the only food on the planet that will not spoil or rot. What it will do is what some call 'turning to sugar'. In reality, honey is always honey. However, when left in a cool dark place for a long time it will "crystallize". When this happens *loosen *the lid, boil some water and sit the honey container in the hot water, but turn off the heat and let it liquefy naturally. It is then as good as it ever was. Never boil honey or put it in a microwave. This will kill the enzymes in the honey.

*Cinnamon and Honey *

Bet the drug companies won't like this one getting around. Facts on Honey and Cinnamon:

It is found that a mixture of honey and Cinnamon cures most diseases. Honey is produced in most of the countries of the world. Scientists of today also accept honey as a 'Ram Ban' (very effective) medicine for all kinds of diseases.

Honey can be used without side effects for any kind of diseases.

Today's science says that even though honey is sweet, when it is taken in the right dosage as a medicine, it does not harm even diabetic patients. Weekly World News, a magazine in Canada , in its issue dated 17 January,1995 has given the following list of diseases that can be cured by honey and cinnamon, as researched by western scientists:

*HEART DISEASES: *

Make a paste of honey and cinnamon powder, apply it on bread instead of jelly and jam and eat it regularly for breakfast. It reduces the cholesterol in the arteries and saves the patient from heart attack. Also, those who have already had an attack, when they do this process daily, they are kept miles away from the next attack. Regular use of the above process relieves loss of breath and strengthens the heart beat. In America and Canada , various nursing homes have treated patients successfully and have found that as one ages the arteries and veins lose their flexibility and get clogged; honey and cinnamon revitalize the arteries and the veins.

*ARTHRITIS: *

Arthritis patients may take daily (morning and night) one cup of hot water with two tablespoons of honey and one small teaspoon of cinnamon powder. When taken regularly even chronic arthritis can be cured. In a recent research conducted at the Copenhagen University, it was found that when the doctors treated their patients with a mixture of one tablespoon Honey and half teaspoon Cinnamon powder before breakfast, they found that within a week (out of the 200 people so treated) practically 73 patients were totally relieved of pain -- and within a month, most all the patients who could not walk or move around because of arthritis now started walking without pain.

*BLADDER INFECTIONS: *

Take two tablespoons of cinnamon powder and one teaspoon of honey in a glass of lukewarm water and drink it. It destroys the germs in the bladder..

*CHOLESTEROL: *

Two tablespoons of honey and three teaspoons of Cinnamon Powder mixed in 16 ounces of tea water given to a cholesterol patient was found to reduce the level of cholesterol in the blood by 10 percent within two hours. As mentioned for arthritic patients, when taken three times a day, any chronic cholesterol is cured. According to information received in the said Journal, pure honey taken with food daily relieves complaints of cholesterol.

*COLDS: *

Those suffering from common or severe colds should take one tablespoon lukewarm honey with 1/4 spoon cinnamon powder daily for three days. This process will cure most chronic cough, cold, and, clear the sinuses.

*UPSET STOMACH: *

Honey taken with cinnamon powder cures stomach ache and also clears stomach ulcers from its root.

*GAS *:

According to the studies done in India and Japan , it is revealed that when Honey is taken with cinnamon powder the stomach is relieved of gas.

*IMMUNE SYSTEM: *

Daily use of honey and cinnamon powder strengthens the immune system and protects the body from bacterial and viral attacks.. Scientists have found that honey has various vitamins and iron in large amounts. Constant use of Honey strengthens the white blood corpuscles (where DNA is contained) to fight bacterial and viral diseases.

*INDIGESTION: *

Cinnamon powder sprinkled on two tablespoons of honey taken before food is eaten relieves acidity and digests the heaviest of meals.

*INFLUENZA *:

A scientist in Spain has proved that honey contains a natural 'Ingredient' which kills the influenza germs and saves the patient from flu.

*LONGEVITY *:

Tea made with honey and cinnamon powder, when taken regularly, arrests the ravages of old age. Use four teaspoons of honey, one teaspoon of cinnamon powder, and three cups of water and boil to make a tea. Drink 1/4 cup, three to four times a day. It keeps the skin fresh and soft and arrests old age. Life spans increase and even a 100 year old will start performing the chores of a 20-year-old..

*RASPY OR SORE THROAT: *

*When throat has a tickle or is raspy, take one tablespoon of honey and sip until gone. Repeat every three hours until throat is without symptoms. *

*PIMPLES *:

Three tablespoons of honey and one teaspoon of cinnamon powder paste. Apply this paste on the pimples before sleeping and wash it off the next morning with warm water. When done daily for two weeks, it removes all pimples from the root.

*SKIN INFECTIONS: *

Applying honey and cinnamon powder in equal parts on the affected parts cures eczema, ringworm and all types of skin infections.

*WEIGHT LOSS: *

Daily in the morning one half hour before breakfast and on an empty stomach, and at night before sleeping, drink honey and cinnamon powder boiled in one cup of water. When taken regularly, it reduces the weight of even the most obese person. Also, drinking this mixture regularly does not allow the fat to accumulate in the body even though the person may eat a high calorie diet.

*CANCER: *

Recent research in Japan and Australia has revealed that advanced cancer of the stomach and bones have been cured successfully. Patients suffering from these kinds of cancer should daily take one tablespoon of honey with one teaspoon of cinnamon powder three times a day for one month .

*FATIGUE *:

Recent studies have shown that the sugar content of honey is more helpful rather than being detrimental to the strength of the body. Senior citizens who take honey and cinnamon powder in equal parts are more alert and flexible. Dr.. Milton, who has done research, says that a half tablespoon of honey taken in a glass of water and sprinkled with cinnamon powder, even when the vitality of the body starts to decrease, when taken daily after brushing and in the afternoon at about 3:00 P.M., the vitality of the body increases within a week.

*BAD BREATH: *

People of South America, gargle with one teaspoon of honey and cinnamon powder mixed in hot water first thing in the morning so their breath stays fresh throughout the day.

*HEARING LOSS: *

Daily morning and night honey and cinnamon powder, taken in equal parts restores hearing. Remember when we were kids? We had toast with real butter and cinnamon sprinkled on it!

**

Christopher A. Young Learn more about Jesus

.

Hi, And it is said, inside hive is cleaner than a hospital operating room.

[Gordon Shumway]

What do you mean "we." If it's so damned important to you spend your own money... not mine. I have no reason to help you. You have never helped me.

[Jim Yanik]

Gordon Shumway wrote in news: [e-mail]:

honey bees DO provide valuable pollination services that to duplicate would raise the cost of many food items,and thus affect everybody.

[George]

Maybe you haven't considered that bees are the major mechanism for pollination?

[Gordon Shumway]

Agreed. However, the wife of a "Beeman" has a much more vested interest in bees than the average person. Therefore, her desire to "help the honey bee" is probably more truthfully stated as "help the Beeman and his wife." That's what I have the problem with. There are too many people holding their hand out.

[Jim Yanik]

Gordon Shumway wrote in news: [e-mail]:

considering the serious bee problems of varroa mites and colony disorder,that no individual beekeeper or group of beekeepers could achieve the resources necessary to combat them,it's understandable for them to ask for help. It's not anything like sports stadia or other non-productive welfare projects. it's necessary and beneficial to most everybody.

[Gordon Shumway]

If, indeed, it is necessary and beneficial to most everyone, then let them invest their dollars, not ours. If done well they could reap untold rewards. As a result they would then be in the position to create jobs for those needing work. Once that has cycle has begun, the Beeman and his wife and the people they employ would no longer be taking money from our government but they would be contributors to it. And so on and so on...

Our government should not be allowed to subsidize every industry-of-the-week just so they can buy votes. We shouldn't forget GM, Solindra and all of the other bad decisions our fearless leaders have made. Let the private sector provide the investment and when they do it right they win and so does the rest of the country.

[dgk]

So a problem that affects all of us, because we all need the services that bees provide, shouldn't be addressed by all of us? We have a way of doing that, called government. That is all of us together, the great American Experiment of participatory democracy. You know something, if it doesn't work, then maybe we should slash the "defense" budget and stop trying to export it all over the world.

[Stormin Mormon]

dgk, please check your facts. Last I knew, the USA is a constitutional republic.

Anything that's not a power delegated by the Constitution, the Fed should not be funding.

Christopher A. Young Learn more about Jesus

.

So a problem that affects all of us, because we all need the services that bees provide, shouldn't be addressed by all of us? We have a way of doing that, called government. That is all of us together, the great American Experiment of participatory democracy. You know something, if it doesn't work, then maybe we should slash the "defense" budget and stop trying to export it all over the world.

[Gordon Shumway]

There is only one flaw with your thinking. Your answer to all that is wrong with us is socialism -- not government. Our real problem is too much government.

[dgk]

Our government is us. Us. The people. We vote them in. I think our government should be finding the reason for the honey bee decline, and if that reason is something be produced by private corporations, like an insecticide, then the private corporation should be made to rectify the situation. This is, by the way, interstate commerce, just for Mormon's sake.

[Gordon Shumway]

Let me see if I understand your point of view. You think all tax payers should pay higher taxes for only some of us to benefit (the industry-of-the-week). You don't want some of the unemployed to be able to get a job and begin to turn their lives around. You want the unemployed to remain dependent on the government (all of us, your words) for ever.

On the other hand, you don't like my idea where taxpayers would be able to pay lower taxes and all of us will benefit.

Is that what you are saying?

[dgk]

I think that we the people, through our govenment, decide how to spend our taxes. Personally, I'd slash the military. And since we all eat, we all benefit from honeybees and we'd best find out what is going on with them.

I would love to see the unemployed get jobs, but since the wealthy in America can make more by moving our jobs overseas, then maybe the problem is with the growing concentration of wealth among the already wealthy.

[krw]

It's a damned good thing you weren't given the job of writing the Constitution, then.

Then vote Obama out!

The US government is actively chasing jobs out of the country. Your blame is in the wrong place.

[Gordon Shumway]

In other words I'm right. Thank you for being honest.

[Stormin Mormon]

Or, the problem is that regulation and taxes makes it too expensive to do business in the USA.

Christ>