Basic Bee Products

Bees function as an important and vital part of our world. Bees help maintain our agricultural system through pollination. The efforts of the bees help ensure that food crops like vegetables and fruits are available. Bees also produce six basic products that consumers use. Most of these products are sold as food or supplements.

Honey

• Beekeepers harvest honey from storage cells in the hive.

  Bees produce honey from nectar and use it as hive food. This carbohydrate provides a quick source of energy for the bees. Honey color, taste and consistency depends on the type of nectar harvested by the bees. Humans use honey to sweeten beverages and foods.

  Beekeepers harvest honey several times a year when the supply is large and will not deprive the hive of needed food. Honey may be sold as processed and pasteurized or raw. Many consumers prefer raw honey because it has health benefits that are lost when the honey is heated.

Royal Jelly

• Nurse bees secrete royal jelly to feed the queen and the bee larvae. The nurse bees secret the royal jelly as it is needed, so there are few stores in the hive except in the brood cells of larvae destined to be queens. This makes harvesting the substance difficult and with low yields.

  Humans may consume royal jelly as a natural, unprocessed dietary supplement. Pharmaceuticals may use royal jelly, and some cosmetics contain small amounts of it.

Pollen

• Beekeepers collect pollen from the legs of the bees as they enter the hive. Pollen traps scrape the pollen pellets off the legs and bees and allow the pollen to fall into a catch tray below. Beekeepers dry and clean the pollen to remove contaminants. Beekeepers may market the pollen for food, medicine, beebread or cosmetics.

  Bee pollen must be carefully collected. If the hive does not have enough pollen, there is not enough protein available to the workers and the hive will starve. The beekeeper must balance the desire for profit with the need to preserve the hive.

Propolis

• The bees harvest leaf resins to create propolis. Bee propolis has antifungal and antiseptic properties. The bees use it to clean and repair the hive and to seal off the brood cells.

  Humans use propolis in cosmetics, health supplements and pharmaceuticals, and for wound healing.

Beeswax

• Beekeepers use beeswax foundation to begin a new colony,

  Bees have glands that convert excess food stores to wax. The bees use the wax to construct the hive. Beekeepers may provide foundation sheets of beeswwax to start new colonies and bee boxes. Humans use beeswax to make furniture polish, candles, pharmaceuticals, cosmetics and chewing gun. Beeswax may also be used to form molds for casts of jewelry, models and bells.

Venom

• Bees employ venom to defend the hive. Worker bees have venom sacs that combine two chemicals and use a stinger to inject the venom. Bee venom is used medicinally to treat arthritis and inflamed joints.