We here at Meadow Brook Farms know  how important education is to

our children. Therefore we have developed this Question and Answer Page

to share our knowledge of Bees, Honey Production and Beekeeping. It is

filled with little known facts about our honey  business and the life and

operations of a Beehive.

   At the bottom of this page, you can ask a beekeeper a question about bees

and beekeeping and  get answers to your questions e-mailed back to you.

                           So let's get started.

Question:

 How many trips does a bee need to make, to produce a single pound of honey?

Answer: It takes approximately 50,000 bee flights, out to the flower's and back

to the hive to make a single pound of honey. So lick the spoon clean, because

chances are that what remains on  the spoon, is the entire life's work of a

 single bee.

Question:

  In the summer when the weather is hot, how do the bees

 stay cool in the hive?

 Answer: Bees have a unique way of keeping the hive cool

in warm weather. First they place worker bees at the opening,

or entrance to the hive to flap their wings, and fan fresh outside

air  in to the hive, secondly other worker bees collect water

from out side of the hive, and bring it back to place it on the top

of the honey frames, where other worker bees fan air across the

small  amounts of water inside of the hive, causing it to evaporate,

in turn cooling the hive.  Between the worker's fanning fresh air

into the hive from out side, and the evaporation of water inside

of  the hive, the hive stays at a comfortable temperature for the bees.

  Man has mechanized this evaporation method of cooling for his owe

home. These are the evaporative or swamp coolers you see mounted

on top of houses or in the windows of  homes across the country.

So if you have an evaporative cooler at your house, you can thank the

bees for having the idea first.