The hive society: royal jelly, pollen, honey, wax…
The bee is one of many beneficial insects to man. The organization of the hive is based exclusively on the job. The workers walk a radius of three kilometers in search of pollen and propolis (prepared based on resins of trees), to take them to the hive and place in the cells of the honeycomb.
A group of workers care jealously the product that will feed the eggs of the queen, which will later be transformed into new workers that will allow the survival of the hive.
Food
Within the hive, there is a constant flow of food, because there are bees that collected pollen delivered to other workers. In this exchange system, there are also circulating chemicals from bee to bee and are those substances regulate the production of different social classes that make up the hive.
If inside the hive there is an active queen (putting eggs), there are no other queens. When their egg production declines and the insect dies, the workers build the actual cells (larger than the others) which will raise the future queen.
Why bees don’t confuse their hives? Because each hive has its own smell. All members of the same hive carry that smell, because they eat food prepared by the mouths of their peers.
Work
Diapers are made with sheets of wax that is secreted by glands that bees have in the abdomen. The queen will put her eggs in each cell, and when the larvae hatch from eggs, are fed with honey and pollen.
Already developed, the larvae are locked in a cell, and when they become an adult bee, they will break the cover that had isolated them.
But the role of the worker bees is not just to collect food and to meet the queen, but also have to clean the hive and renew the air with their wings.
Hives not only produce honey. There are other products that are equally valuable or even more.
Honey: It is made from nectar collected from flowers and stored in their first stomach, where it is partially digested and converted into honey.
Within the hive, the honey is in a liquid state (after being harvested, granular). It is a product rich in trace minerals and vitamins, resulting in a great complement for diet. Among the trace elements are: calcium, iron, magnesium, potassium, copper and zinc. It also has flavonoids, highly distributed in the plant kingdom. These compounds have antioxidant capacity of vitamin C.
Honey is a great energizer, because components such as glucose and fructose, which are absorbed directly into the digestive tract, provide energy to the skeletal muscles. As a sweetener, it is a potential one and a half times greater than sucrose or sugar.
Wax: It is a product of the segregation of some bees in glands in the abdomen. It will make the cells (diapers) that form the basic structure of the hive. This product is used in cosmetics, pharmaceuticals, toiletries, polishes and craft items such as candles.
Propolis: It is made from resins that bees collect from trees. It is used as a natural antibiotic, antiviral and antifungal agent. Also used as a dietary supplement, because it improves the immune system and is a great antioxidant, antimicrobial, anti-inflammatory. The presence of flavonoids helps to improve the health status of those who join it in the diet.
Royal jelly: It is a liquid produced by a mixture of secretions from the glands of worker bees. It is the only food consumed by the Queen throughout her life.
It is a valuable source of vitamins B complex and provides large amounts of trace elements and substances with hormonal capacity. Unsaturated fatty acid has powerful antimicrobial properties that protect the product of decomposition.
Among its health benefits, helps improve memory, has a rejuvenating effect, and improves circulation, skin and hair. It is a powerful energizer, especially in men, it has ability to enhance sexual potency.
Poison: The apitoxina has become an alternative therapy for various ailments. The venom of bee (Apis melifera) is a remedy that has hundreds of years and was based on the beekeepers, who were constantly exposed to insect bites, alleviating their pain or even curing rheumatic diseases in nature. Used in patients with rheumatoid arthritis, lumbosciatic pain, fibromyalgia, migraines and psoriasis.
Pollen: The grains are composed of thousands of microscopic corpuscles containing amino acids, lipids, vitamins, flavonoids, trace elements, minerals and fiber. It contains all eight essential amino acids for humans. The presence of fiber and unsaturated fatty acids in pollen helps reduce cholesterol.