At Little Bee of Connecticut, we harvest our honey twice a year. Once in mid-June and again in mid-September. We just completed our last harvest of the year this past weekend. I thought it would be the perfect time to show everyone how we get that golden goodness direct from the hives and straight to you. Nectar gathering and ripening (Warning: Science content) Producing honey starts with the forager bees collecting nectar from different floral sources. During this process, the bees generate the enzyme invertase which is then mixed with the nectar. Upon returning to the hive the foragers transfer the nectar to the house bees. They add more enzymes and place it in the honeycomb. The enzymes break down the sucrose in the nectar to glucose and fructose, a process known as “ripening” the honey. While this is occurring, the bees fan the nectar with their wings to reduce the moisture content. Once the bees detect that the nectar is fully ripened and the water content is low enough, they will cap the honey cells with beeswax. This protects the honey until the bees are ready to consume it by preventing it from reabsorbing moisture. Ready to harvest Inspecting frames & a fully capped frame When it is harvest time, we begin by inspecting the honey frames looking for them to be completely capped. This is a critical step. Harvesting uncapped frames with too high of a water content can cause it to ferment. When we find a fully capped frame, now we must get hundreds of bees off each one. We could use smoke to move them into the lower boxes. Personally, I don’t like this as it can result in ash from the smoker fuel staying on the honeycomb, which could give the honey a smoke taste. We simply shake the frame over the hive to remove most of them and brush the rest off. Prepare to extract To extract the honey from the frames we could just scrape all the honey and comb off the frame and let it drain out. If we did that, then next year the bees would need to rebuild all that comb before having a place to store the nectar. Honeybees produce wax by consuming the nectar and excreting it from their wax gland. This would result in a smaller harvest due to all the repurposed nectar for producing wax. Uncapping the frame  We use the uncapping method. Scraping the frame with a “fork” to remove only surface wax covering the honey. This preserves the honeycomb on the frames which can then be used again for future honey harvests. Spinning Frames As each frame is uncapped, we load it into our extractor. When we first started beekeeping there were only a couple of hives, so we purchased a small 3 frame hand crank extractor. It suited its purpose at the time but as we continued to grow the number of hives, this became very laborious and sometimes hilarious process. Taking an entire day to extract 50 or more frames only 3 at a time, plus having to flip them over to do the other side. A few years ago, it was decided that an upgrade was needed. Now an 18 frame motorized extractor that does both sides at once makes quick work of the job. The high-speed spinning generates centrifugal force that flings the honey from the frame to the wall of the extractor (See video below).  It then flows down and collects underneath. The uncapping process does leave flakes of beeswax in the honey. When the honey is drained, we pass it through a strainer to remove the wax pieces and THAT’S IT! (See video below) We do not filter our honey as this could remove the pollens that are contained with the honey. It is never heated either as that can deteriorate the natural enzymes and nutrients within.   Ready to go!!! When all the honey is extracted and drained it remains in a sealed container overnight to allow entrapped air bubbles to rise out. The following day we jar and label so it’s ready for sale via our website or at craft shows (When they still happened. Thanks 2020). The question we are most often asked about honey is if we see a difference between the spring and fall honey. Check out the picture below to see if you notice a difference. On the left is honey from our Fall 2020 harvest and on the right is our Spring 2020 Harvest. Clearly a night and day difference. Right?! Why? Here in Connecticut it’s all due to the different nectar sources available each season. In the spring the bees forage on things like clover, dandelion, and flowering trees to name a few. This results in a lighter more floral tasting honey. During the late summer you have goldenrod, buckwheat, knotweed, and others. This produces a much darker and richer honey for our fall harvest. I think it has a slight taste of molasses to it. Our fall honey is now available on our website. Be sure to pick up a jar before it’s all gone. Thanks for reading our blog! I hope you found it informative and insightful.

When our customers learn that Little Bee of Connecticut has their own honey bee hives, they become curious and want to know what’s involved.  One of the most frequently asked questions is: How do you start a new hive? We posted a small series of videos a few weeks back which highlighted the steps we’re about to explain in more detail. If you’re more of a visual person, you can check out those videos on Instagram or Facebook. Read on for more detail on this exciting process! When we want to add more honeybee colonies to our apiary, there are a few different ways we can obtain bees for a new hive. We can try to catch a swarm in the wild, however, that is like fishing, you never know if you’ll catch anything. If you have existing hives, you can also split a large hive into two hives. Doing this can help prevent swarming, which can happen when larger hives get overcrowded. However, one of the simplest and most common methods is to purchase a package of bees. A 3-lb. package of bees = 10,000 bees!   A package of bees is just what it sounds like. A box filled with bees. Approximately 10,000 bees and one queen, to be specific. These are available each spring from many commercial beekeepers or beekeeping supply companies. They will even ship them through the mail just like any other package. (Hopefully your mail carrier isn’t allergic.!) Once the bees arrive, they need to be placed in the hive as soon as possible. Being stuck in a small room for a couple days with 10,000 of your brothers and sisters and no bathroom would make you cranky too. The first thing we have to do is remove the “feeder can” and locate the “queen cage”. A feeder can contains sugar syrup to feed the bees while they are being shipped to their final destination. The queen cage separates the queen from the rest of the bees. This queen is not the mother of this package of 10,000 bees. She was raised separately and the cage protects her from the bees for a couple days until they become familiar with her pheromone and accept her as their queen. Removing the feeder can The Queen Cage To get the bees into the new hive, we start by suspending the queen cage between two frames. This ensures ample space for the bees to cluster and allows the queen’s pheromones to fill the hive.  Next, we pour the bees from the package directly into the hive. This is an amazing visual, so head over to our Instagram or Facebook pages to see the process. Scroll back a few weeks to find the series. With the bees now in the hive, they will be attracted to the queen’s scent. Over the next couple days, the bees will chew through the sugar plug on the end of the small queen cage to allow the queen to be released. She will then start her only job, which is laying approximately 1,500 eggs per day. A mother’s work is never done, right?? It’s now time to close up the hive, but before we do, we want to leave some food sources with them to provide extra nourishment until they can venture out and visit the many pollinator gardens and pathways in our town. A sugar syrup with essential oils is provided as a nectar substitute. Pollen patties, which look like a protein bar for a bee provide a healthy protein substitute. The bees will feed on this along with nectar and pollen sources found in the open for the next few weeks as they get settled in. The last step is to return to the hive about a week later to perform our first inspection. During this inspection we want to look for several things. First and foremost, we’ll inspect and remove the cage to make sure that the queen has been released. We don’t necessarily need to see the queen, we just want to know she’s out of the cage. Second, we want to make sure that the worker bees are building honeycomb, which is what the queen will use to store her eggs as she lays then and will also be used for honey storage. If the sugar syrup is depleted, we’ll add more to the feeder at this time. Finally, we want to look for eggs and small larvae in the comb. Finding the queen in a hive is like playing “Where’s Waldo”, so trying to find her every time can be frustrating. You could injure her if you don’t know where she is on a frame. If we see eggs and larvae during an inspection, we know the queen is there and that’s a good sign that she is healthy and active. The new hive is now up and running! Young honeybee larvae   We check back every few weeks to see how the hive is doing and to check again on all the things we outlined above. We had some very chilly weather right after we installed our new hives and the bees were a bit slower than typical in building up their stores of honey. However, we’re hopeful that we’ll have a sweet honey harvest in early summer at some point. Maybe a few weeks later than usual, but we’ll keep you posted on our social media accounts, so be sure to follow us there! If you have any questions on this blog post or simply want to share a story of your own, feel free to reach out to us at info@littlebeeofct.com. We’d BEE very excited to chat! Also, to see all of the products we create with all-natural beeswax and honey, visit our site. Thank you for supporting Little Bee of CT and the beekeepers around the world!

We are passionate about many things, and as you know, many of those things involve honey bees! The little honey bee, along with all the other pollinators we promote on our social channels and on our blog, are so very important to our food sources and the ecosystems that support life, that we want to share what we’ve been reading* on the subject of pollinator preservation and the use of harmful chemicals, herbicides and pesticides. First the scary stuff.   These Losses are Not Sustainable What do we fear? Total loss of our pollinators. Such loss is not sustainable and we won’t be able to reverse the devastation. Some facts…U.S beekeepers have reported that in the past year, they have lost over 43% of their honeybee colonies… and this is the 2nd highest percentage of loss ever recorded! Things are getting scary for the little honeybees. Monarch butterflies are also continuing to decline in numbers and have been reduced by 26% in the last year. The loss of honeybee colonies and monarch butterflies can be directly linked to the use of toxic chemicals which reduce their food sources, pollute the ground and water supplies and also directly kill the bees and butterflies. Toxic chemicals are not the only factor in the declining number of pollinators we’re seeing each year. Habitat loss and climate change play big roles in the lower counts of our favorite creatures. That being said, toxic chemical use is something that we can prevent or at the very least control and begin to minimize.   The Science is Clear Two major chemicals are at the forefront of the pollinator destruction: neonic (an insecticide) and glyphosate (a weed killer), and they are both “virtually unchecked”. As the purchase and use of these chemicals rises, the pollinator population declines. The facts show how closely tied together the two events are. Glyphosate, sadly, is almost solely responsible for wiping out the habitat for Monarchs, by eliminating the milkweed plant which is crucial for the Monarchs’ survival.   The NRDC Have you heard of the Natural Resources Defense Council’s (NRDC) Pollinator Initiative? This is a major campaign designed to defend bees, butterflies and other pollinators from harsh chemicals released from many large companies and approved for use without restriction. Right now they are fighting a court battle against the EPA’s reauthorization of the weedkiller “glyphosate”, stating that the EPA has completely ignored warnings from medical experts and scientists about the serious risks to our environment and health. Hundreds of thousands of NRDC members and activists are contacting the EPA now in protest of these dangerous chemicals and calling on restrictions. It’s timely because the EPA is scheduled to perform a hazard review, which includes these chemicals, that should be completed by the end of 2022. However, once they reach their conclusions, they will not need to have another review until 2037! 15 years later! If the ruling does not reverse the use of these chemicals, more of our pollinators will be lost, or soon enough, completely wiped out. “We have a limited window, and in that time we have to make sure we’re weighing in at every stage of the process and making the strongest possible evidence-based case against these bee-toxic pesticides,” says Dan Raichel, Pollinator Initiative acting Director. “The science is on our side, but we’re up against a powerful industry that has billions a year in profits…” Their tireless work is invaluable and we hope they get the results they are looking for in court. The fate of our pollinators depends on it   Food Sources Will Also Decline “A study published by Rutgers University in July 2020 found that foods such as apples, cherries, and blueberries are already ‘pollinator limited,’ meaning a lack of pollinators is leading to lower crop yields. One in every three bites of food we take as humans relies on bees and other pollinators. Think about that at your next meal. What will be missing from your plate as we destroy the pollinators and our own health at risk by allowing these toxic chemicals to be used freely and without restriction.   But there is HOPE! Take Action by Contacting the EPA! We must join the fight and act now so we can affect change and insist that the EPA follows the science to restrict the use of these pollinator-destroying chemicals. TAKE ACTION NOW BY VISITING: nrdc.org/savebees to fill out the form petition. Your message will be sent to: Michael Regan, EPA Administrator with the subject line: Save our pollinators – and our food supply – from toxic pesticides!  Add your personal info and you will have joined the fight against big corporations and the manufacturing and use of these toxic chemicals.   In Closing “For far too long the EPA has refused to stand up to the agrochemical industry,” says Raichel. “We’re counting on NRDC members (and YOU) to join us in demanding the EPA stop putting Big Ag’s profits ahead of pollinator survival and people’s health.” The Biden-Harris administration has promised to restore science as central to protecting the environment and public health. We hope they deliver. *Our source is the NRDC “Natures’ Voice” Summer 2021 Publication. Please share your pollinator garden pics with us by mentioning us in your Instagram posts, or by sending us a message directly on Instagram or on Facebook. We’d love to see your photos and will choose our favorite to share on our social channels this month!   Thanks for supporting the bees and for supporting Little Bee of Connecticut! Visit our site to learn more about our company and our products.

The demand for crops dependent on honeybees and other pollinators, such as almonds, apples and blueberries, has grown over 300% in the past 50 years. This recent study, published by Environmental Science & Technology, also outlines that the areas most dependent on pollinators for crop survival provide the worst conditions to house these same pollinators! Come on! Our nation’s pollinators can’t seem to catch a break… When Bees Have to CommuteBecause California produces just about 80% of the world’s almonds, and the state doesn’t have enough suitable habitat for honeybees to thrive naturally, can you guess what needs to happen? Shuttles for bees! There are many companies that now deliver their bees, sometimes traveling thousands of miles, to these needy crop areas in California. The bees do their work, generally from January to March, pollinating the almond trees, and are then bundled back up for the long ride home again. This all sounds like a nice compromise, right? If the almond trees are taking up all of the land, and therefore the natural habitat for bees and other pollinators, what’s the harm to raising these bees elsewhere and letting them work in CA? There are a Few Things Wrong with this Arrangement…First, the areas growing these high-value crops tend to use chemicals more often and tend to have less diverse species of flowering plants and shrubs. Diversity equates to health. The “corporate” bees, raised in controlled environments, get to head back home to their native beehives after a few months in California. But what about the wild bees and other diverse species of pollinator? They don’t have the luxury and are now suffering. Second, if you throw in a severe drought and the ongoing risk of wildfires, things will only get worse. The local pollinators won’t thrive and will die off. When this happens, it actually causes the bees that are shuttled in to work less efficiently. There is new research coming out of Penn State, by Christina Grozinger, director of the Center for Pollination Research, that shows “…if you have multiple species of bees, you get better pollination. Having a diverse community of pollinators can be crucial for both production and quantity.” Sounds like a MAJOR Catch 22, right?Take over the land to produce high-yield crops DEPENDENT on pollinators. Destroy the natural resources including all diverse plant life, and use pesticides guaranteed to destroy the habitat these pollinators require. Truck in bees from other states and hopefully get them to pick up the slack on the pollination time card. Meanwhile the lack of diversity in local healthy pollinators stresses out the commuter bees making them less efficient than the natural pollinators would have been if the ecosystem could be designed to actually WORK on both sides of the equation! What about Bees with Special Job Requirements? When you remove the “local” pollinators from an area, you’ve essentially removed the working species that know the land, are familiar with the plants in their area and can work efficiently to gather the pollen from these plants. Bees that are shipped in to an area do not know the lay of the land, and may not be entirely familiar with different plant species and the intricate ways they might need to harvest pollen from these plants. Neal Williams, a professor of bee biology at the University of California has said, “…in California, when wild bees emerge in the spring and fly Ito almond and fruit orchards, there’s an increase in nut and fruit yield.” The more diverse the pollinator group working the land, the more marketable the crop. It makes sense then that the current situation is not working and a new design must be found. Another bit of Scary NewsAccording to USDA Surveys on honey colonies in the US, up to 230,000 colonies collapse in California during almond pollination season. “Pollinator fees are now the largest single component of operation costs in almond production in the Sacramento and northern Joaquin Valleys.” Luckily…there are some almond growers out west that are actually starting to experiment with a diverse population of pollinators. While honeybees will generally fly row to row in an almond orchard, these growers are working with a local bee called the “blue orchard bee”, which flies erratically from tree to tree and row to row, scattering the pollen more efficiently than the honey bee. This is the tip of the “almond”, but it’s a step in the right direction and hopefully other growers will follow suit. … If you haven’t read our last blog, which focused on the EPA and the use of toxic chemicals, we want to reiterate some news and facts that might interest you below! Have you heard of the Natural Resources Defense Council’s (NRDC) Pollinator Initiative?This is a major campaign designed to defend bees, butterflies and other pollinators from harsh chemicals released from many large companies and approved for use without restriction. Right now they are fighting a court battle against the EPA’s reauthorization of the weedkiller “glyphosate”, stating that the EPA has completely ignored warnings from medical experts and scientists about the serious risks to our environment and health. Hundreds of thousands of NRDC members and activists are contacting the EPA now in protest of these dangerous chemicals and calling on restrictions. It’s timely because the EPA is scheduled to perform a hazard review, which includes these chemicals, that should be completed by the end of 2022. However, once they reach their conclusions, they will not need to have another review until 2037! 15 years later! If the ruling does not reverse the use of these chemicals, more of our pollinators will be lost, or soon enough, completely wiped out. Food Sources Will Also Decline“A study published by Rutgers University in July 2020 found that foods such as apples, cherries, and blueberries are already ‘pollinator limited,’ meaning a lack of pollinators is leading to lower crop yields. But there is HOPE! Take Action by Contacting the EPA!We must join the fight and act now so we can affect change and insist that the EPA follows the science to restrict the use of these pollinator-destroying chemicals. TAKE ACTION NOW BY VISITING: nrdc.org/savebees to fill out the form petition. Your message will be sent to: Michael Regan, EPA Administrator with the subject line:Save our pollinators – and our food supply – from toxic pesticides! Add your personal info and you will have joined the fight against big corporations and the manufacturing and use of these toxic chemicals. *Our source is the NRDC “Natures’ Voice” Summer 2021 Publication. Thanks for supporting the bees and for supporting Little Bee of CT. Visit our site to learn more about our company and our products.

For beekeepers across the country, the end of the calendar year is usually the quietest time. The honeybees are in their winter cluster and there’s not much the beekeeper can do for them until spring. Many of us use this time to reflect on what went well, what went wrong, and what to do differently next year. Let’s look back through the Little Bee Beekeepers Calendar and the events of this past season.   January through March: Honeybees are not very active in the winter months. They’re in a cluster in the center of the hive to maintain warmth. Only leaving the hive when the temperature is above 50° F for a cleansing flight to relieve themselves of waste. (Check out a previous blog post How Do Honey Bees Survive Cold Temperatures? to learn more.) For the beekeeper, the new year marks the beginning of the season and time to start planning to ensure a successful year. While the temperatures will still be cold for weeks to come, now is the time to prepare for spring. Inspecting beekeeping equipment so it’s clean and ready when the weather is warm enough to enter the hives. Order and assemble hive components for replacing worn out parts or expanding the number of hives. Purchase bee packages early before they sell out. Start feeding the hives to supplement early season nectar and pollen foraging. Taking these steps helps get the hives off to a good start in the spring.   April through June: Spring is when the hives really come to life. The warmer weather brings the flowers and the bees are eager to get out there to forage. Back in the hive, the queen is already laying almost 2000 eggs a day to boost the hive population. More bees + More nectar = More HONEY!!!! For the beekeeper April is when we get our first chance to look inside the hive to see how well they survived winter. We want to see a great brood pattern with lots of eggs, pollen, and honey. If we don’t and the hive looks weak, then we must assess the issue. If the hive needs to be rescued, we can donate a frame or two of bees from a strong hive to boost the population or we can replace an underperforming queen. As we move into May, strong hives will be filling the hive with lots of nectar to turn into honey while the queen continues to lay eggs. Unfortunately, this battle for space can cause the hive to swarm. To prevent swarming, we add additional boxes called honey supers to the hives. This provides additional space for nectar/honey while not crowding the queen. With ample space for all we wait patiently for June when the supers are full and the nectar flow slows down. Once the honeycomb is capped with wax it’s time for the spring honey harvest. Uncapping, extracting, and bottling all that golden goodness.   July through August: During the early summer the temperatures increase and nectar sources may dry up. The hive will start to look for alternate sources which is why you may see them at your summer picnics. Inside the hive the warmth starts to impact the hive. To help keep it cool, the bees will congregate on the front step and fan their wings to circulate air through. During extreme heat a good portion of the bees will cluster on the outside of the hive in a process called wash boarding or bearding. Check out this quick video to better understand. Bearding Explanation – Instagram. As we get into August and September the summer nectar sources start to return as the bees start preparing for the fall/winter. With reduced natural sources in July we try not to disturb the hive unless necessary. The hive is already under stress and we don’t want to add to it. The bees may start to consume their honey reserves, so we need to keep an eye on them and provide supplemental feed if needed. Once the mid to late summer flowers start blooming the nectar flow is on, we stop feeding and add the honey supers in anticipation of the next honey harvest in September.   October through December: The cooler temperatures of October send a signal to the hive that winter is approaching. Preparations are being made inside to help aid in their survival. The last of the nectar is being ripened into honey to provide nourishment until spring. Gaps in the hive are being filled with propolis to minimize drafts and leaks. The queen stops laying eggs. Drone bees are evicted since they do nothing to help the hive through the cold. Once the temperatures stop going above 50 degrees, the bees will remain inside until it warms up again. October represents the last opportunity for us to do what we can to help the hive make it through winter. After last month’s honey harvest, we begin feeding the hives to allow them to produce as much honey as possible. Here in Connecticut a strong hive will consume 60 to 80 pounds of honey through the winter. The bees are also treated to reduce varroa mites via a natural method. Left untreated, mites can spread disease and kill the hive. Lastly before the warm days are gone, we’ll add a candy board (a block of sugar) under the hive cover as an emergency food source if needed and say goodbye until spring.   That brings us back to December, reflecting on the year at hand, and making plans for next year. For Little Bee it was a mixed year. Our hives started out slow. Taking more time than usual to grow in population which resulted in a poor spring harvest. With a little patience, the queens kicked into gear, and we ended with some of the strongest hives I’ve ever seen this season. There was lots of honey and pollen in the hives when I checked at the end of the season. So fingers crossed, say a prayer, because it’s in Mother Nature’s hands now. Hopefully we’ll see activity on all the hives come spring.   For more information on any of the all-natural products we create at Little Bee of CT, visit our site or email us at info@littlebeeofct.com, Don’t forget to follow @littlebeeofct on Instagram and Facebook where we post daily updates! Thank you for supporting Little Bee of CT and the busy beekeepers around the world!

If you follow us on Facebook and Instagram, you’ll see many posts highlighting the fascinating aspects of our favorite pollinator, the honey bee. We want to take a closer look at this amazing little creature and provide some perhaps not-so-common facts that we hope will interest and astound you. After all, without the honey bee, our food sources would suffer tremendously, and some would disappear completely. Now, in no particular order, let’s get buzzing about these bees! 10. Beeswax Is Created from a Special Gland on the Honey Bee. There are eight glands on the abdomen of the youngest worker bees which produce tiny wax droplets. As soon as the wax is exposed to oxygen, the droplets harden. The worker bees use their mouths to soften the wax and make it pliable. Then the older workers construct the honeycomb. Want to learn a bit more about how honey bees make beeswax? Click here and read this detailed article! (https://www.thoughtco.com/how-honey-bees-make-beeswax-1968102) 9. The Hive is Kept at a Constant Temperature of 93° Fahrenheit. During the hot summer months, bees will fan their wings to keep the air circulating. The hum from all these beating wings can be heard from many feet away. In the colder months, the bees will gather closely together and circle the queen to keep her warm. The bees can maintain this temperature even during drastic weather changes. 8. Honey Bees Top Speed Can Reach 15 to 20 MPH! Honey bees are not built for long distance travel, but more for short bursts of speed as they travel flower to flower. Once they are loaded up with pollen, they travel closer to 12 MPH. And, to get home with the extra weight, they flap their wings 12-15,000 times per minute! This photo shows the baggage a little bee must carry on the flight back from the flower garden. 7. One Queen Bee Can Lay up to 2,000 Eggs in One Day. Queens have one job and that job is reproduction. A mere 48 hours after mating, she will begin to produce eggs, and won’t stop until she has produced her own body weight in eggs each day. The average is about 1,500 eggs per day, This leaves little time for eating or grooming, so she has her attendant worker bees take care of the household chores for her. Watch this closeup and personal video of a Queen mating in air! (https://youtu.be/i7hGIP-RE8k) 6. If the Queen Dies, a Replacement Queen is Created. It is rare, but sometimes the queen bee dies. If she has laid eggs within 5 days of dying, there is a good chance that the hive can create a replacement queen, by swapping her diet of honey and bee bread for royal jelly. This “emergency” queen won’t be as successful as one fed royal jelly from birth, but she will ensure the longevity of the hive, and can pick up where the previous queen left off. (Like bossing around the workers, and then mating and killing off drones.) 5. Honey Bees are Amazing Mathematicians. Why are honey bees a fan of the hexagon? It’s one of the most efficient design shapes for economizing labor and beeswax. Bees can actually calculate angles and understand the curve of the earth. Woah, right? To learn more about the honey bee and the hexagon, watch this Ted Talk Video. (https://ed.ted.com/lessons/why-do-honeybees-love-hexagons-zack-patterson-and-andy-peterson) 4. No Couch Potatoes Allowed. Bees are Hard Workers. Each bee has its own specific job. Whether it’s attending to the nursery, gathering pollen and nectar, removing waste from the hive, or the deadly task of mating with the queen, these bees get the job done in a precise and orderly fashion. A single colony of bees can pollinate over 300 million flowers … a day! (No Netflix and Chill for these little bees.) 3. What a Honey Bee Gathers Determines What it Will Become in the Hive. Bees will forage for a few things: Nectar, pollen, water and propolis (a resin-like substance collected from tree buds.). The nectar and pollen become honey and bee bread, to feed the hive (and if we’re lucky…us!). Water is used to cool the hive, The propolis is mainly structural and used to fill in crevices in the hive structure. 2. Honey Bees Have an Amazing Sense of Smell. They can smell the difference between Lilac and Lavender. (Well, so can we.) Bees have over 170 “odorant receptors”, which also help them to communicate with the hive. 1. Honey Bees Do Sleep. They are one of the hardest working species, and therefore deserve to catch some ZZZZ’s. But, honey bees don’t sleep the way that humans and animals sleep. They do remain very still and may even “power nap” to refresh, or conserve energy. Bees also use this down time to rehash the days memories, stabilizing them so they can be accessed the next day and even in the future.   For more information on any of the all-natural products we create at Little Bee of CT, email us at info@littlebeeofct.com, Don’t forget to follow @littlebeeofct on Instagram and Facebook where we post daily updates on our products and our favorite creature…the little bee! Thank you for supporting Little Bee of CT and the busy beekeepers around the world!

Do you love local honey? Are you SURE you’re purchasing local honey? More and more people are understanding the health benefits of local honey – from ingesting the natural pollen for allergy control, to antibacterial properties for wounds, to a soothing cup of hot honey and lemon for a sore throat. They are also understanding the plight of the honey bee through national coverage by CNN, Time, National Geographic, to name a few and are buying to help support local beekeeping. My favorite local honey is of course… Little Bee of Connecticut, mainly, because I am the beekeeper. I’m proud to say that Little Bee of Connecticut honey is truly, pure local honey. I know what went into harvesting it and that it hasn’t been processed or otherwise adulterated in any way. I can’t stress enough, when buying your local honey, know your honey source, and if at all possible, know your beekeeper. Just because it’s honey being sold locally doesn’t necessarily mean it is local honey, or raw honey, or even pure honey. Truly local honey means that the bees should be collecting the nectar and pollen in the local area not just harvesting the honey locally. The label might say the town of the beekeeper and it might be local to you. This doesn’t necessarily mean that the honey is local. Some beekeepers rent out their hives for pollination of crops. The hives will be transported, possibly to other regions of the country for several weeks/months and placed in a field. In this situation the pollen and nectar sources may not be local to the hives original home. When the hives do return home and the honey harvested, it should not be considered local honey. Be sure to ask the seller/beekeeper where the hives are located and are they rented out for pollination. If they are, be sure that the hives stayed local. If not, it’s not local honey. Pure honey is produced entirely from pollen and nectar collected by bees. However, by feeding the bees sugar syrup during the honey producing/harvesting season, beekeepers can increase the the amount of “honey” produced. The bees are not able to tell the difference between the sugar syrup and real nectar, so they will collect it and convert it into “honey”. “Honey” produced by this method is not considered real honey by most beekeepers. It may look like honey and have a taste of honey, but I feel it is deceptive to sell this as honey, as you are selling honey flavored sugar syrup. Always ask if the beekeeper feeds their bees sugar during the honey producing season (May to September). If they do, then you may not be buying real local honey. The process used by the beekeeper to harvest the honey can have an impact to the look, flavor, and most importantly the benefits of local honey. Most honey found in the supermarket is commercial honey and comes from multiple sources. The honey has likely been pasteurized by heating to almost 160F. This allows the honey to be easily filtered, bottled, and gives it a uniform look. Fine filtering can remove the beneficial pollen from the honey. Heat treating can impact the color, flavor, all the natural vitamins, living enzymes, and other nutritional elements. Be sure to ask how your local honey was harvested to ensure that it has not been filtered or heated so that it retains all the benefits you are buying it for. Little Bee of Connecticut’s hives are all located in Southbury and Newtown, CT, and are not rented for pollination. We do not feed our bees sugar during the honey producing/harvesting season. At harvest time, the honey goes direct from the honey comb, through a mesh strainer to remove wax pieces, and directly into our jars without any other processing. The way honey should be. Pick up a jar of Little Bee Honey,  compare it to your grocery store bottle, and taste the difference. Little Bee of Connecticut is a small family owned apiary located in Southbury, CT. The premise behind Little Bee of CT is a simple one: provide locally produced, unique products from the hive, while educating their customers on what we can all do to help support honey bee survival. Founded by Scott Priore, it quickly became apparent that beekeeping would be a passion versus just a “hobby”. All their products are handmade in small batches and only include simple, minimal ingredients. They offer a variety of honey and beeswax-based products including Hand Rolled Beeswax Candles, Hand/Body Salve, Lip Balms, Solid Perfumes, Sea Salt Body Scrubs, as well as Locally Produced Honey.