Common Questions

Honey is the food source of the honey bee and is produced inside each worker bee from nectar gathered during foraging. The bees transfer the honey from their honey sacs into the hexagonal wax cells inside the hive. The bees then fan these cells with their wings to evaporate the water from the honey. The bees then cap the cells with wax and these cells become the bees' food stores.

The flavour and colour of honey comes from the type of forage frequented by the bees, and can vary widely. Honey is mainly composed of natural sugars such as fructose and glucose, and water, plus trace amounts of other compounds.

How can I buy your honey?

You can buy our honey by visiting our apiary in the main beekeeping season (between April and September). Some of our members also sell their honey locally, so please ask at the apiary.

Can local honey can help with my hay fever?

Many people believe that honey, in particular local honey, can help to alleviate the symptoms of hay fever (allergic rhinitis). The theory is that the small amounts of pollen in honey build up a tolerance to pollen in the body. However, these beliefs are based on anecdotal reports or personal experience, which do not constitute scientific evidence. The idea is superficially attractive because it sounds similar to the way vaccination works.

Despite these claims, there is currently no medical research that backs up the theory that hay fever in adults can be treated with honey. A 2002 study of 36 adults suffering from allergic rhinoconjunctivitis showed no difference between those who were given nationally produced honey, locally produced honey and a control group given a placebo. At the present time there has been no equivalent study in young children.

But don't let this put you off buying locally produced honey. There are other good reasons, such as reducing food miles, putting money back into the local economy, helping to support the pollination of local flowers and plants, and supporting British beekeepers. Local is good!

Do you sell other bee products such as royal jelly, propolis or pollen?

Kingston Beekeepers currently sell only honey to the public from our apiary. Please be aware that claims made about the supposed medical benefits of bee products (including honey – see above) are anecdotal and scientifically unproven, so use caution before accepting claims made about bee products. In a few documented cases, royal jelly has triggered asthma and propolis has caused contact dermatitis.

Is honey good for me?

Honey is a high carbohydrate food and a good source of energy in the form of sugar. If consumption is relatively low it's unlikely to do you any harm, unless you need to avoid sugar for medical reasons, such as diabetes. As with all sugary products though, dental hygiene is important. There is little evidence that eating honey actually improves health. But so what? It tastes good!

Is honey safe for my children?

For children over one year old honey is safe to eat in moderation, although the usual precautions against tooth decay apply. Do not give honey to children under one year old. Honey contains naturally occurring botulinum spores, which can cause infant botulism in very young children because their digestive systems are not sufficiently developed. For the same reason, honey should not be given to anyone with immune system deficiencies.

How long does a jar of honey last?

By law, all food products must display a "use by" date on the packaging. Honey is no exception, but in practice the high levels of sugar mean that honey will normally keep much longer than the official date displayed on the jar. If your honey has crystallised, it does not indicate that the honey has gone off (see below).

My honey has crystallised. Is it still edible?

Honey will crystallise under certain conditions because it contains over 70% sugar, causing it to become a 'supersaturated' solution. The glucose in the honey readily precipitates out, resulting in crystallisation and a lower saturation level in the honey. This is perfectly normal and doesn't affect its edibility. However, you can redissolve the crystals by simply placing the jar in a pan of warm water, or by leaving the jar on a sunny window ledge for a few hours. Don't forget to put the lid on the jar first though, otherwise you might attract some unwelcome attention!

I've been stung. What's the best remedy?

Stings can be painful, but are rarely dangerous. Typically, the initial pain from the actual sting will subside and over the next few hours the area around the sting will become itchy and swollen. Some stings will cause significant swelling and itchiness over the course of several days. Antihistamine creams can help to relieve these symptoms, but if in doubt please call NHS Direct.

If you feel dizzy or nauseous after having been stung, you should seek medical assistance immediately. In some cases, people can suffer anaphylaxis after bee stings, which are usually treated with an injection of adrenaline. Do not attempt to drive or operate machinery.

Help! I've got a swarm/nest of bees in my garden/house. How do I get rid of them?

First of all, make sure that the insects in question are definitely honey bees and not wasps (see What's the difference between a honey bee, a bumble bee and a wasp?). Bee swarms are normally seen as a cluster of bees hanging from some external object, often a tree branch or on a building. Although they might seem menacing, bee swarms don't normally cause any harm. After a day or so a swarm will typically move on to a more permanent location where they will establish a new colony. If you want to get rid of a swarm, you can call a local beekeeper who may be willing to come and remove it.

If you've got a wasps' nest, you'll need to call a pest controller. They are listed in Thomson Local Directory.

Are bees dangerous?

Like all stinging insects, bees can be a nuisance and their stings painful. A few people suffer allegic reactions to bee stings, and on rare occasions these can be severe enough to require medical treatment (usually an injection of adrenaline to reduce the body's immune system response). It should be stressed that this happens in only a small number of people. At our main apiary in Thames Ditton we keep a first aid box of sting treatments, including an adrenaline syringe.

In parts of South America, Central America and the southwestern USA, a more aggressive hybrid strain known as the Africanised honey bee has caused widespread fear. This is partly based on sensationalist media reporting of a small number of incidents involving this particular strain. The Africanised honey bee has not been introduced into Europe.

What's the difference between a honey bee, a bumble bee and a wasp?

Bees and wasps often cause confusion in identification, but these insects are really quite different in appearance. All three are social insects that live in colonies, and all have the ability to sting. You can see many pictures of bees and wasps here.

The honey bee, in the genus Apis, typically ranges in colour from almost black to orangey yellow, with dark banded stripes on their elongated bodies.

The bumblebee, in the genus Bombus, has a larger and more rounded hairy body than the honey bee. It varies in colour, but typically has a dark body with yellow/orange bands or vice versa. The tail of the bumblebee may be black, white or red. Bumblebees are also social insects, but live in much smaller colonies than honey bees.

The classic "yellowjacket" wasp is a similar size to the honey bee, but has a flatter and more tapered body that has been described as "shark-like". Wasps can be a nuisance during the summer because they are attracted by food, particularly sugary foods, and can be persistent or aggressive.

Are honey bees dying out? Didn't Einstein say that if honey bees die out humans would follow soon after?

As far as we know, bees are not dying out. However, they are under threat from a number of different diseases, some of which are capable of wiping out entire colonies. A recent phenomenon, dubbed Colony Collapse Disorder, or CCD, has caused large losses in bee colonies in the USA. At the present time the cause of CCD is not known and research continues into this worrying development. Despite the claims made by some newspapers, there is no evidence that mobile phones play any role in CCD.

Britain's only professor of apiculture, Prof. Francis Ratnieks, discusses the fears about bee die-off in this interview with The Guardian newspaper.

As for Einstein, there is no evidence that the great physicist had anything to say about honey bees. The quote attibuted to Einstein seems to have first made an appearance in print in a 1965 beekeeping magazine – ten years after his death. The urban legend site Snopes says: "All in all, this looks like a classic case of a useful quote being invented and put into the mouth of a famous person for political purposes".

Scientists have 'proved' that bees can't fly. How stupid!

Firstly, this claim refers to the larger bumblebee rather than the honey bee, and secondly scientists have never said anything of the sort. The aerodynamics of bumblebee flight were imperfectly understood until relatively recently, when scientists published research that demonstrated how the bumblebee achieves sufficient uplift to carry its rather bulky body. The key mechanism is known as 'dynamic stall': each time the bee flaps its wings, small vortices form above the wings, resulting in greater uplift.

I'm interested in taking up beekeeping. Where do I begin? How much does it cost?

First of all you'll need to decide where to keep your hive or hives. If you have garden or roof terrace big enough to keep hives in, and you have understanding neighbours, the next step is to decide how much you can afford to spend on your hobby. Beekeeping isn't cheap, although if you shop around you can get some bargains. If you're buying new equipment, you will need the following:

A complete hive (deep brood box for the eggs and larvae; two or three shallower 'super' boxes to store the honey in; floor; crown board; and roof): expect to spend anything from £100 to £200, depending on whether you buy it flat-packed or ready-assembled
An additional brood box (some hives are sold with two brood boxes, so check first): £25-£45
A bee suit to protect you: £50-£110
A smoker to keep the bees away from any areas you're working on when inspecting your hive: £20-£40
A hive tool to prise apart boxes, scrape off propolis and to act as lever for pulling out frames: £5-£10
10 frames to go in each brood box (£7-£9 for a pack of ten)
Wax foundation sheets for each frame (£7-£9 for a pack of ten to go in the deeper brood boxes and £4-£5 for a pack of ten to go in the 'supers')
Other items such as clearing boards (which might be included with your hive), bee escapes and plastic spacers to go on the ends of the frames (2 per frame)
And finally the most important part of your hive: the bees! You'll need a queen and some worker bees to start off each of your colonies. If you've been on our learner course we may be able to help you get started with some bees. You can purchase queens from a number of sources, and typically cost around £20-£40 each.

You can find a list of beekeeping suppliers in the Links section. Shop around because prices can vary quite a bit. Some members of Kingston Beekeepers have found certain suppliers on eBay are reliable and supply good quality equipment. If you're thinking of setting up a hive and are not sure which supplier to go with, come along to the apiary and ask some of our members.

The might seem like quite a hefty outlay, but much of this equipment should last you many years. Plus you can sell any extracted honey that you don't use yourself or give away.

How can I join Kingston Beekeepers?

Please visit this page to find out how you can join Kingston Beekeepers.

2009-09-22

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