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10 favourtie flowers for small gardens to attract Honey Bees

10 favourite flowers for small gardens to attract Honey Bees

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Ten favorite flowers for small gardens to attract Honey Bees Ten favorite flowers for small gardens to attract Honey Bees Ever thought – how do I attract honey bees, or maybe you have ever thought that you might do something to help. We all are. As humans we are compationed and happy (normally) to help others. So, even if you have a small garden, there are flowers which you can plant to help out our little insects throughout the year. Bees need pollen and nectar in order to supply themselves with food. They are important as from pollen they are gathering proteins and carbohydrates. To conclude – small gardens in rural or even urban areas can offer a great source of food for our pollinators and still look superb. British Beekeepers Association which names those flowers which are bees’ favourite and can nourish our little friends. I have found a leaflet done by the British Beekeepers Association which names those flowers which are bees’ favourite and can nourish our little friends. According to BBKA, Hellebore species and hybrids (called by others as Christmas Rose) and H. orientalis (lenten rose) are popular. Tolerant of most conditions, they prefer moist, well drained alkaline soil in dappled shade. They can grow well in pots. Second one will be Galanthus nivalis, commonly called snowdrop. Those are delicate little flowers bravely flowering in early spring, often covered in snow, but a vital source for pollen and nectar. Add to basket Gift Set-Natural Honey & Candle – Yorkshire Rated 0 out of 5 £39.99 Add to basket 100% Raw Pure Blossom Honey with lemon Rated 0 out of 5 £9.99 Add to basket 100% British Blossom Honey with Raspberry Rated 0 out of 5 £9.99 Sale! Add to basket Raw Honeycomb Pure & Natural-straight from the hive Rated 0 out of 5 £10.99 £7.50 Salvia species Another one to name will be Salvia species. If you’d decide to choose it for your garden, they can be pruned in spring and look striking in a border. Salvias are sun-loving plants and good drainage is essential for the survival of almost all salvias. Crocus species (winter-flowering) brings you delightful splashes of vibrant colour in spring. Easy to grow and look beautiful in containers or in groups on a lawn. An early source of pollen for the bees. Echinacea Echinacea is a good choice for some gardens. This daisy-like flower is a long-flowering border perennial which is easy to grow and it is growing effortlessly. It is an excellent plant for the small bees., rich in nectar through late summer and autumn. Choice number six (this is not in particular order) would be a plant called cosmos. Cosmos are also very easy to grow and have edible flowers. Simply scatter the seeds and these freely flowering annual plants will spring up. A good choice is cosmos bipinnatus. Rudbeckia laciniata The seventh will be Rudbeckia laciniata. Striking larger plants with tall upright stems, divided foliage and many single yellow flowers in late summer. Plant is easy to grow if given full sun or partial shade and a moderately fertile soil that is moist, but well-drained. Sedum species As we already know, honey can be used as a substitute for sugar and it is sweet. The flavour and texture may not be the same when you make the swap. Proportions of the substitute are like that: for one cup of honey, you should use 1 and ¼ cup of sugar and ¼ cup of additional liquid such as water (it might be a certain type of alcohol as well) or a liquid that is in the recipe. Different type of swap is one cup of honey, can be exchanged by ½ cup of sugar and ¾ cup of corn syrup. Sedum species Next one will be the Sedum species. There are many varieties of sedum plants, which make them suitable for almost all types of gardens. Sedums are hardy, easy to care for and make great cut flowers. Sedum spectabile, differently called ice plant, is a good choice as well. Lavender angustifoli Number 9 on our list is the lavandula species. Lavender angustifolia is a truly superb plant. Not just to add colour and scent into the garden (hey, that is a lavender) but it is also a good choice and superb plant. Lavender is ideal for a mixed border, but it also makes a fantastic edging plant. Lavender really needs sun, well-drained soil and dislikes wet, especially in the winter. Verbena species The last but not least will be verbena species. Verbena will thrive in full sun, well drained soil and relatively dry conditions. Verbena officialis is a good choice for long lasting blooms during the summer. It has tall, fragrant flowers on rigid stems and will attract many pollinators. Add to basket Gift Set-Natural Honey & Candle – Yorkshire Rated 0 out of 5 £39.99 Add to basket 100% Raw Pure Blossom Honey with lemon Rated 0 out of 5 £9.99 Add to basket 100% British Blossom Honey with Raspberry Rated 0 out of 5 £9.99 Sale! Add to basket Raw Honeycomb Pure & Natural-straight from the hive Rated 0 out of 5 £10.99 £7.50

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Honey - guide to buying, using and storing honey

Honey – guide to buying, using and storing organic honey

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Honey – guide to buying, using, and storing honey Honey is an organic alternative to sugar. It is a natural source of sugar and very easy on the stomach. It has an indefinite date of usage and it is a great addition to your cooking process. Honey, as a sweetening agent has been used for centuries (even millenia). As that, it has been used for a variety of foods including marinades, beverages, baked goods, addition to sauces or simply sweetener to the fruits. What is honey? Honey is thick by nature, golden liquid. It is manufactured by bees from the nectar of lowering plants. Process of converting nectar into honey is called regurgitation (it is quite a difficult word to read, isn’t it?). Bees amazingly evaporate water from it by collective effort, and that is the process to produce the material we consume and know as honey. Bees’ existence is vital to us humans as they are performing the service of pollinating fruits, legumes, vegetables, and other types of food plants in their interest of producing honey. Add to basket 100% Natural Handmade Honey Soap – Pure & Gentle Rated 0 out of 5 £6.99 Add to basket 100% Natural Hand-Rolled Beeswax Candle – Made in the UK Rated 0 out of 5 £6.00 Add to basket 100% Pure Natural Tealight Candles-set of 6 Rated 0 out of 5 £8.99 Add to basket Natural 100% Pure Beeswax Candle – Handmade in the UK Rated 0 out of 5 £10.00 Varieties As you might have learned from the previous blog posts there are different varieties of honey. The main difference can be defined organoleptically as well as on the structural level, taste, different properties and medical activities. Main factor which distinguishes our sweet liquid from anything else is the type of flower that the bee frequents. For instance, acacia flowers will be light and watery. Dark wood however, will give us dark and rich honey. Other varieties include: How to cook with Honey To cook with honey, the best would be if you’d use some from a bottle or jar. To do all precise measurement, spray the spoon with cooking oil before dipping it into honey. Our sweet liquid will slide right off the sprayed or dipped spoon. Honey can be used as a sugar substitute, however it will amend the texture of food, especially baked goods in which it may become more moist, dense and rich in flavor. What does honey suppose to taste like? Honey is a viscous material, sticky and very sweet. It may taste a bit floral, fruity or woodsy. Depending on the type of the flower (or type of honey), it is possible to distinguish specific notes such as lavender, acacia flower or even forest bedding. To be able to determine different taste of honey, a side by side taste comparison can be a fun exercise. Honey Substitute As we already know, honey can be used as a substitute for sugar and it is sweet. The flavour and texture may not be the same when you make the swap. Proportions of the substitute are like that: for one cup of honey, you should use 1 and ¼ cup of sugar and ¼ cup of additional liquid such as water (it might be a certain type of alcohol as well) or a liquid that is in the recipe. Different type of swap is one cup of honey, can be exchanged by ½ cup of sugar and ¾ cup of corn syrup. Where to buy honey? The best place to buy honey is our store called York Bee. We are reliable and sustainable. We are putting lots of love and passion towards our product- so by buying it you are not just supporting me, but hundreds of thousands small insects called Bees. Add to basket 100% Natural Handmade Honey Soap – Pure & Gentle Rated 0 out of 5 £6.99 Add to basket 100% Natural Hand-Rolled Beeswax Candle – Made in the UK Rated 0 out of 5 £6.00 Add to basket 100% Pure Natural Tealight Candles-set of 6 Rated 0 out of 5 £8.99 Add to basket Natural 100% Pure Beeswax Candle – Handmade in the UK Rated 0 out of 5 £10.00

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Honey story is something quite unique. We know it was there, as we do, that it was gathered and have been used for centuries, more of that – millenia. There were cave paintings done in Spain which are dated to about 8000 years of honey harvesting.

Honey – 8000 year old of tradition.

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Honey – 8000 year old of tradition Honey story is something quite unique. Honey story is something quite unique. We know it was there, as we do, that it was gathered and have been used for centuries, more of that – millenia. There were cave paintings done in Spain which are dated to about 8000 years of honey harvesting. We know that even then, back in the days it was used for medicine, food and other purposes as well. However, honey is not about humans. It is done by one of the most important animals on our planet – the Bees. Bees are the one, which are responsible for gathering nectar, visit millions of blossoms during their period of lifes and what is most important – making pollination possible. We should and have to feel lucky, We should and have to feel lucky, as bees make more honey than their colony needs. Beekeepers are able to remove the excess and jar it. We have known about it since the beginning of our conscious life and written history. Beginning of honey is happening by bees collecting nectar, which gets broken down into simple structures like sugar stored inside the honeycomb (which happens to be built naturally by our little friends). The design of honeycomb and fanning of the bees’ wings causes evaporation, creating sweet liquid honey. Honey’s colour and flavour is based on the nectar collected by the bees. Sometimes you have seen bee hives somewhere and thought to yourself – why have bee hives been left there without any supervision. The simplest answer would be to get a certain type of nectar. Let’s say, if a beekeeper decides he wants to have a certain type of honey (like orange blossom), he will have to make it easier to gather it as bees, the same as we – we like when things are getting simple. So that is what the beekeeper does – it makes bees’ lives simple by placing them in the place where the nectar can be collected easily. By the way, honey from orange blossoms is light in colour, but varieties darker comes for instance from wildflowers, forrest blossoms. The colour might be going then towards dark brown and the density of it might be very different as well. On average one hive will produce about 55 pounds (that is about 25kg). Honey is harvested by beekeepers by collecting honeycomb frames and scraping off the wax cap that bees make to seal off honey in each cell. Once caps are removed – there are special extractors which spin the centrifuge. This way honey is forced to go out of the comb. After extraction, honey is strained to remove any remaining wax, pollen and other particles. Some beekeepers are heating up the honey to make this process easier, but if done right – it doesn’t alter the liquid’s natural composition. Add to cart Honeycomb Rated 0 out of 5 £10.99 Add to cart test Rated 0 out of 5 £0.00 Add to cart Rope Candles | Handmade | York Bee Rated 0 out of 5 £10.99 Add to cart Leaves Candle | Handmade | York Bee Rated 0 out of 5 £11.99 After this laboring process we are straining honey. After this laboring process we are straining honey. It is time to bottle and label it in order to bring it to you. It doesn’t really matter if the container is glass or plastic. It shouldn’t matter if the product has been purchased in your local grocery store or farmers’ market. If the ingredient label says something like “pure honey”, it would mean that nothing was added from bee to hive to bottle. Just to conclude – I prefer to get it from the farmers market, as the feeling of direct connection with the beekeeper seems a bit way to go. That might be just me – I know.

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How Bees Came to…Bee-3 Interesting facts you neve knew!

Bee visits 100 flowers during one trip

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Bee visits 100 flowers during one trip Unlike many other species – bees or more specific honeybee species don’t hibernate in the winter. Rather they stay active in their hives. During coldest months, honeybees cluster together to keep warm to survive on the sweet substance that they have been gathering for months in advance. This substance is what we are calling honey. We think that the process of making honey is amusing! In few steps I will try to introduce you into this process, but before that happen, here are some interesting facts about honey which are unbelievable: 5 facts about bees that will interest you Not all bees make honey. There are seven species of honey bees (surprisingly low number isn’t it). Honey Bees collect nectar. In addition they are collecting pollen as well during their foraging trips so they can make honey to store for the cold winter months. Just to clarify it, they are making honey as it is their food. Worker bees make about 1/12 of a teaspoon of honey in their short lifetimes(not too much isn’t it). The bee’s lifespan is about six weeks. On average, honey bee visits 100 flowers during one foraging trip A colony of bees (large one in fact) can eat one hundred to two hundred pounds (that is up to 100 kilograms!) Honey bees are travelling on 4 to 5 mile radius (that is 6 to 8 kilometres) for pollen and nectar. To make just one pound of honey, honey bees will travel approximately 55,000 miles (and that is whooping 88 thousand kilometres) Add to cart Honeycomb Rated 0 out of 5 £10.99 Add to cart test Rated 0 out of 5 £0.00 Add to cart Rope Candles | Handmade | York Bee Rated 0 out of 5 £10.99 Add to cart Leaves Candle | Handmade | York Bee Rated 0 out of 5 £11.99 How much honey does one hive produce? There are many factors that determine how much honey a single colony (or one hive) will need to produce for a winter period. It depends on the climate where the bees live, how much ventilation the hive has, the number of bees in the hive and how much ventilation the hive has. Honeybees will be gathering pollen to make honey until every cell in their hive is full. More of this information you can find at Italian Journal of Animal Science. According to University of Arkansan Division of Agriculture – workers reared in the spring and early summer tend to live for five to six weeks. The first two weeks of their lives are spent as house bees, doing tasks in the hive. The remainder of their time is spent as field bees, foraging for food outside the hive. Workers that reach maturity in the late fall may live well into the following spring. They must maintain a cluster of bodies around the queen bee, keeping her warm through the winter months. Later, when egg-laying resumes, they must raise the first generation of young bees the next year. Honey, when it is produced, is a very long lasting food. Honeybees reduce the water content in honey and adding sugar, which greatly limits the ability of bacteria and other microorganisms to grow in it and waste it, according to the Saudi Journal of Biological Sciences. Effectiveness and potency of honey against microorganisms depends on the type of honey produced, which is contingent on its botanical origin and health of the bee, its origin and processing method.

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