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WHAT PRODUCTS DO BEES PRODUCE?
What do bees provide us?
Bees are known mainly for being honey producers, but this sweet product made by the bees is not the only one that these insects provide us.
Beekeeping is the technique that describes how to raise bees to take advantage of the products that these insects make. The person who is dedicated to raising bees is called beekeeper.
Among the main products manufactured by bees we have the following:
Honey, the food of bees
Honey is a sugary product obtained by bees, mainly from the nectar and molasses that they collect from the plants. Through honey and other products, like pollen, bees feed themselves their larvae.
They also store the honey in wax structures that they make themselves called honeycombs, where this food is reserved for when winter arrives.
In the natural state, bees make their own hives in hollows of trees or rocks. Beekeepers provide them artificial hives so they can make their products inside them.
Subsequently, some of these products are collected for food or human use.
* More information on honey.
Royal jelly, the food for the queen
The queen of the colony feeds on another product other than honey, that the bees themselves make, is called royal jelly.
Royal jelly is a nutritionally richer food than honey.
It contains a high amount of protein, with all essential amino acids. It is rich in carbohydrates and contains fats, vitamins and minerals. It is also rich in enzymes.
* More information on royal jelly
Pollen, ideal food for the colony
Bees collect pollen from the flowers of the plants. Pollen serves together with honey and other products to feed bees. Honey provides them with energy, but pollen is a much more complete food with a greater nutrient richness.
From pollen bees mainly obtain carbohydrates, proteins, vitamins as well as antioxidants and enzymes. It is especially needed by young bees and workers who make great efforts to collect food for the colony
Part of this valuable food is collected by beekeepers at the entrance of the hives before the bees themselves can process or ingest it.
* More information about pollen
Beeswax, the cement of the colony
Beeswax is a product that certain bees themselves make from glands located in their abdomen. It is the young bees that mainly produce wax.
It has a fat composition and with it the bees manufacture their honeycombs and, when they are in free state, their hives.
The elaboration of the wax requires a great energy effort on the part of the bees. It is considered that a bee should consume 4 to 12 kg of honey to produce 1 kg of wax.
Beeswax is extracted from the honeycombs by heat to convert it into a product that has various home and industrial uses.
* More information about beewax
Propolis, the colony glue
Propolis o bee glue is another of the products elaborated inside the mouth of some specialized bees. Some bees collect resins and other sticky substances and introduce them into their mouths. Once in the mouth, they mix it with their saliva and with waxes to elaborate propolis, which they hook in their paws and take it to the colony.
Bees make propolis to use it as a sealing material. With it they cover the cracks of the hive, seal the cells of the larvae, correct any failures in the honeycomb, etc. Beekeepers are able to extract the propolis that is a very valuable product for men for its numerous healing properties.
* More information about propolis
Bee venom, defense of the colony
Bees dispose of poison to defend the colony. Bee venom is a very powerful poison that, once inoculated in our skin, produces us swelling and a great itch. On the other hand, this poison can be used by man as a healing remedy.
It is considered a powerful anti-inflammatory, very useful in certain anomalies such as rheumatoid arthritis, herpes, psoriasis, depression etc. The treatment with bee venom, known as TVA, is performed by means of live bee stings or through injections with venom extracted from bees.
More information on honey.
