1. Pests, Plagues & Politics Lecture 6 Products of the Hive
Honey – Wax – Pollen – Venom - Royal Jelly
“The devil made the wasp, but God made the honey bee”
~ Old Germanic Saying

2. Key Points Products of the Hive
History of Beekeeping
Modern Apiculture
Removeable Top Bar Frames
Bee Space
Honeybee products
Honey
Wax
Pollen, venom, royal jelly
Pollination Services

3. Prehistoric relations
Prehistoric records show a honey bee/human connection going back 6,000 BP
Humans were essentially another
predator of the honey bee
Smoking the hive
Motopo Hills, Zimbabwe, ca. 10,000 yrs ago
Mesolithic cave painting
Cueva de la Arana, Bicorp, Spain

4. Historic Record
Humans eventually began providing cavities for honey bees to nest in.
Earliest records are Egyptian

5. Harvesting honey combs (right) and packing honey (left)
Egyptian beekeeping
Harvesting honey combs (right) and packing honey (left)
ca BC, West Bank, Luxor

6. Apiculture The “management” of honey bees Primary species utilized:
Apis mellifera L. – The European honey bee
Two Biotypes:
European – adapted for temperate climates
African – adapted for tropical climates
Ca. 27 subspecies/biotypes in the world.
Honey bees to the western hemisphere ca by European colonists

7. Honey - 200 million pounds per annum (U.S.)
WHY KEEP BEES
Provide valuable products for our comfort, pleasure, & nutrition.
These are:
Honey million pounds per annum (U.S.)
Pollination - 16 billion $$ of agricultural product
Wax, Pollen, Royal Jelly, Venom

8. Prior to 1853 Beekeeping was
Inefficient/Wasteful
Skep hive – used for 2000 years
made of mud, clay or straw
unable to inspect for pests, disease
harvest destructive

9. The “Modern” Era of Beekeeping
Started in 1853 with the publication of the book THE HIVE & THE HONEYBEE
Written by L.L. Langstroth
The “Father” of modern beekeeping
Introduced the concept of “bee space”
From which the TOP-OPENING, MOVABLE FRAME HIVE evolved.

10. Bee Space – when bees have less than 1 cm to move around in, they will not build wax or propolis attachments to the wall of a hive, allowing for the removal of frames
Bee Space
1/4th to 3/8th inch

11. The modern beehive

12. HONEY MAGIC A saturated solution of carbohydrates ca. 17% water
ca. 82.5% sugar:
fructose 38%
glucose 31%
maltose 7%
sucrose 1.5%
et alia 6%
ca. 0.5% protein, minerals, vitamins &
MAGIC

13. Honey Produced from plant nectar Precursor of nectar is:
Primarily from flowers
Also extra-floral nectaries
Precursor of nectar is:
Phloem sap
Most often a dilute solution of sucrose
Essentially bees do two things:
Dehydrate
Enzymatic “inversion” of sucrose to glucose & fructose

14. FYI +

15. HONEY The first sweetener (long before sugar cane)
Our first alcoholic beverage (mead)
Production:
U.S. 200 million pounds per annum
World: two billion pounds per annum
Consumption:
U.S., one pound - Germany, four pounds
Myriad of minor uses
pharmacy - medicinal vehicle & taste corrective, wound dressing
cosmetics

16. BEESWAX COSMETICS CANDLES BEEKEEPING creams, lotions, lipstick
liturgical, Jewish, Greek Orthodox, but most of all the RCC.
BEEKEEPING
foundation beeswax

17. Comb from Beeswax

18. Beeswax
Produced from four pairs of sub-dermal glands on the underside of the abdomen of a worker bee.
When the bee is 10 to 18 days old
Produced as small, translucent flakes
Precursor is honey & nectar (carbohydrates)

19. Wax scales from wax glands

21. BEESWAX COMPOSITION Over 300 identified individual components
hydrocarbons (14%)
monoesters (35%)
diesters (14%)
hydroxy polyesters (8%)
free acids (12%)

22. Royal Jelly Definition Composition
the glandular secretions of young worker bees (4-10 days old), produced by the hypopharyngeal in the head, used as food for larval bees.
Composition
66% water
14% protein
14% carbohydrate
5% lipid (fats & sterols)

23. Queen cell
Royal jelly in cell

24. Bee Venom Uses As Pure Bee Venom for use in desensitization
As quackery for charlatans in treating a variety of neurological disorders.

25. VENOM Composition a mixture of proteins & peptides melittin 50% dry wt
phospholipase A 12% dry wt
hyaluronidase <3% dry wt.
acid phosphatase <1% dry wt.
histamine <1% dry wt.

26. VENOM Melittin Phospholipase A Hyaluronidase Histamine
lysis of blood & mast cells - release of histamine & serotonin from mast cells - depression of blood pressure & respiration.
Phospholipase A
cell lysis - pain - toxicity; synergistic with melittin
Hyaluronidase
hydrolyzes connective tissue - the spreading factor
Histamine
itching & pain
Acid phosphatase
involved in allergic reaction

27. Plant male gametophyte A primary food substance for bees
POLLEN
Plant male gametophyte
a reproductive structure that carries sperm
A primary food substance for bees
directly as food to older larvae
indirectly as the precursor for royal jelly
{think of honey bees as specialized herbivores}

28. POLLEN COMPOSITION Protein Lipids Sterols Additionally from 6 to 28%
from 1 to 20%, but usually <5%
Sterols
<less than 0.5%
Additionally
sugars, starches, vitamins, minerals
Pollen grain of chamomile flower

29. Why eating pollen might not be such a good idea!!
Economics
$8 to $12 per pound
Nutrition
= that of soybean flour
Not quantifiable
Pesticide residues
Especially fungicides
Allergies

30. Greatest Value of {honey} Bees
Pollination
U.S. = 15 billion $/annum
Oregon = 600 million $/annum
Fiscal mainstay for commercial beekeepers in PNW.

31. Key Points Products of the Hive
History of Beekeeping
Modern Apiculture
Removeable Top Bar Frames
Bee Space
Honeybee products
Honey
Wax
Pollen, venom, royal jelly
Pollination Services