Meet the Beekeeper - Amanda L. Pickett

Without these beautiful girls, not only would there be no honey, but we wouldn't have many of the wonderful fruits, vegetables and flowers blooming and flourishing as they do.  

Each worker bee has an amazing purpose during its' short little life.  They change jobs, just as we do, caring for young and cleaning the hive at one point and working the fields for nectar and pollen or guarding their front door at another. 

 With their bodies, they create not only honey but wax, propolis and fermented pollen known as bee bread. 

 During the cold months, they cluster together and keep a group temperature of mid 90's inside their hive to allow the bees to continue to prepare for spring and hatch more baby bees.

There can only be one queen in a hive and she can lay up to 3000 eggs in a day during the busy season.  She lives up to four years compared to the workers, who live 4-6 weeks during summer and 4 months during winter.  

 We can't forget about the drones.  These stingless boys are vital to the survival of the colonies yet are as helpless as a newborn as they can't feed themselves and require much more care to raise.  Poor guys die after mating and most that survive the summer get kicked out with the arrival of winter months.