|
- Modern airplane science cannot figure out how honeybees can fly. Their wings are too
small and thin to lift their proportionately fat bodies into the air and keep them going.
And, yet, the honeybee obviously flies and somehow does a buzzing good job of it.
- A legend about the Greek philosopher Plato (427--347 B.C.): When baby Plato was lying
in his cradle, a swarm of bees sat on his mouth. He is thus sometimes called the
"Athenian Bee" because his words flowed with the sweetness of honey.
- Saint Ambrose (340-397 A.D.), one of the greatest "Fathers' and "Doctors" of the Catholic
Church is often called the "Honey-tongued Doctor" because legend has it that Ambrose had
a similar experience to Plato's. Ambrose's bishop's emblem is the beehive, and he is the
patron saint of beekeepers -- and that's a fact.
- The sticky substance that guards the door of the beehive is called "propolis." "Pro"
in Greek means "to come before" and "polis" means "city." Propolis is, in fact, the
antibacteria that keeps the doorway and beehive (city) clean and sterile.
- Honey is the only food that will never spoil if kept airtight in its natural state
(as found in the hive). Fact: In the 13th century near the Great Pyramids of Giza,
honey was found that was thousands of years old and was still edible.
- Unheated, unfiltered raw honey, as it comes from the hive, is antiseptic and can therefore
be used as a wound and burn dressing to fight infection and heal.
- The United States has about 100,000 beekeepers, including commercial keepers, part-timers
and many hobbyists. Canada has about 7,500 beekeepers, most of which are commercial.
|