May 20th is World Bee Day; a whole day dedicated to the hardest little workers on the planet! Aside from being utterly adorable and fuzzy, bees play a vital role in our ecosystems by pollinating plants in order for them to produce food.
Here at Flora & Fauna, we think that Bee Day is the bee’s knees – and definitely worth celebrating!
Fun Facts About Bees!
Bees are wonderful little creatures, but we really don’t know enough about them. Here are five fun facts about bees to spark your curiosity!
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Honey bees work extremely hard to produce honey! In fact, an average worker bee makes only about 1/12 teaspoon of honey in its lifetime. Producing just one teaspoon of honey requires 12 worker bees. Which leads us to our next important fact...
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Bees eat their own honey! It’s stored for food, especially in the cooler months.
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A Queen Bee can produce 2,000 eggs a day. Fertilised eggs become females and unfertilised eggs become males, with the help of pheromones.
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Bees love blue, purple, and violet plants, as well as herbs such as rosemary, lavender, oregano, and basil.
- The ‘buzzing’ sound that bees make actually comes from their wings – they can beat their wings up to 11,400 times in one minute!
Australian Bees
Did you know that there are around 2,000 different bee species in Australia?
The most common bees that we see buzzing about are Australian Native Bees. These bee species don’t actually produce honey, but instead, they work extremely hard to pollinate our unique native wildflowers! The most common non-native bee is the European Honey Bee; these little bees were introduced to Australia in 1822 by early colonists for honey production and crop pollination.
Many crops that we eat or rely on for everyday use, require pollination by bees – including almonds, avocados, blueberries, cucumbers, mangoes, apples, and pumpkins. In fact, one-third of Australia’s food relies on pollination from bees – or one in three bites!
Looking For A Vegan Alternative To Honey?
The good news is that there are plenty of delicious, sweet alternatives to honey!
Maple Syrup is a great vegan alternative to honey and can be easily purchased at most supermarkets. Maple syrup comes from sap from Maple trees and is boiled down to create a delicious syrup and is most commonly used atop pancakes!
Brown Rice Syrup is a sweetener that comes from, well, brown rice of course! It is made by cooking brown rice and exposing it to natural enzymes. These break down and turn the rice's starches into sugars (maltose, maltotriose, and glucose), and the resulting sweet liquid is then boiled and reduced down into a light brown syrup.
Barley Malt Syrup has a similar taste to brown rice syrup with an added malt taste. It's made some barley and a great healthy replacement for refined sugars in recipes.
Date Syrup is an easy one as it can easily be made at home by chopping, boiling, puréeing dates to make a date paste sweetener or you can even strain these soften dates for a thinner syrup texture comparable to maple syrup.
Bee Goodies For The Bee Lover
If you love bees as much as we do, then you’ll love these bee-themed products!
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Pela Phone Case – Bee Edition. This 100% compostable phone case features an adorable bee and honeycomb design. Perfect for bee-lovers!
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Wrappa Vegan Organic Cotton Wrap - Busy Bees. These wonderful wraps are made with organic cotton and plant waxes and can be used to wrap up leftovers, sandwiches and snacks.
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Retro Kitchen Biodegradable Dish Cloth – Bees. This biodegradable, machine washable dishcloth is sure to brighten your day with its bee design!
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