Hobbies And Interests
Pollination
Bees help pollinate the blooms in your flower garden and the edible crops in your vegetable garden by transporting pollen from flower to flower as they collect nectar to return to their hives. The pollen attaches to the honeybees' fuzzy bodies and rubs off on flowers as they collect nectar. The pollen transfer helps plants to reproduce and produce fruit and seed. If feral bees are not available to pollinate your flowers and crops, fruit and seed yields will be low. To ensure large yields on commercial farms, farmers may contract beekeepers.
Honey
Bees convert flower nectar into honey and store the honey inside their honeycombs to provide food for newly hatched and overwintering bees. This raw honey is a suitable nutritional supplement because it is rich with antioxidants, minerals and vitamins. Not only is an alternative to sugar, but honey also helps heal wounds by killing bacteria and preventing infections. Traces of pollen in the honey can help allergy sufferers achieve some relief from seasonal allergies.
Beekeeping Income
In addition to selling extra raw honey for profit, beekeepers can also make money off bee by-products such as wax and propolis. Beekeepers can sell beeswax as-is for making candles, waxing wood furniture, polishing concrete countertops, preserving bronze and copper and waterproofing leather. Propolis, a resinlike substance bees make from tree sap, is often made into furniture waxes and car wax. Beeswax, raw honey, propolis and pollen can also be sold as natural health alternatives and supplements in fighting infections.
Stings
Although extremely beneficial to your health, the success of your crops and your wallet, the main disadvantage of honeybees is their painful stings. Fortunately, honeybees only sting when they feel threatened, such as when protecting their hive from intruders or when accidentally stepped on or squished. Because their stingers are barbed, they often remain inside the skin, releasing more venom and causing additional pain. To remedy this disadvantage, do not walk barefoot outdoors and avoid sitting on or touching live bees. If you are stung, remove the stinger immediately with tweezers or scrape your fingernail over the sting to loosen the stinger.