Bees & Hives
5 articlesaverage 11 min readLast updated:
Before honey there is the bee. The Caucasian bee (Apis mellifera caucasica) that works Artvin's hives reaches deep flowers with its long proboscis and tolerates cold; Macahel is one of the few gene centers for the race in the world, which makes the bee here a protected population rather than just a means of production. And a hive yields more than honey: pollen, royal jelly and beeswax are separate products that do not substitute for one another.
What Is the Caucasian Bee? explains what the race actually does; to tell the hive products apart, read What Is Bee Pollen For?, What Is Royal Jelly? and What Is Beeswax?. If you wonder how a bee sees the world, How Many Eyes Does a Bee Have? may surprise you.
Bees & Hives Articles
What Is the Caucasian Honey Bee? Traits and Productivity
The Caucasian honey bee (Apis mellifera caucasica), native to the Caucasus and northeastern Turkey, has the longest tongue of any honey bee race…
Guide · 8 min read
How Many Eyes Does a Honey Bee Have? How Do They See?
A honey bee has 5 eyes in total. Two of these are the large compound eyes on either side of its head, and three are small simple eyes (ocelli)…
Info · 12 min read
What Is Bee Pollen Good For? Benefits and Uses
Bee pollen is a protein-rich hive product formed when worker bees combine flower pollen they gather with their own secretions into colored…
Guide · 15 min read
What Is Royal Jelly? Benefits and Evidence
Royal jelly is a creamy secretion produced by the head glands of young worker bees, on which queen bee larvae are fed. It's the most expensive and…
Guide · 14 min read
What Is Beeswax? Benefits and Uses
Beeswax is a product made by honey bees and other bees from the honeycomb. Bees consume roughly eight times as much honey, and fly around 150,000…
Guide · 6 min readFrequently asked questions
What makes the Caucasian bee different?
The Caucasian bee (Apis mellifera caucasica) has a long proboscis that reaches nectar in deep flowers, and it tolerates cold well — which suits the short season of Artvin's high plateaus. Macahel is one of the race's gene centers. Read the full article: What makes the Caucasian bee different? →
What besides honey comes out of a hive?
Pollen, royal jelly and beeswax are the other hive products. They serve different purposes and are not interchangeable: pollen is the bees' protein source, royal jelly feeds larvae, and beeswax is the material the comb is built from. Read the full article: What besides honey comes out of a hive? →
Are royal jelly and pollen the same thing?
No. Pollen is collected from plants, while royal jelly is produced by the glands of young worker bees. Royal jelly feeds the queen larva and is far harder to produce. Read the full article: Are royal jelly and pollen the same thing? →
What is beeswax used for?
Beeswax is what bees build the comb from. Once taken from the hive and filtered it is used in candles, cosmetics and food coatings. In comb honey it is eaten with the honey. Read the full article: What is beeswax used for? →