Crosby’s Soroptimists’ summer social meeting was a-buzz with activity.
Simon and John, founders of Eshe Honey, gave a fascinating account of their enterprise. Starting with a hobby they now have a fully-fledged local business, creating a wide variety of British honey and bee-related products. Beekeeping, they say, is a slow farming process and their key principle is to work sustainably.
The Soroptimists learned about life in the honey bee colony. The workers (all female) initially take on roles such as housekeeping or guard duty in the hive. They then spend about two weeks foraging for nectar and pollen. Anything up to three miles is their range.
On return, the workers ‘waggledance’ to communicate the direction, distance and quality of their source to other bees. And after about 28 days working, they die.
The queen of the hive has a longer lifespan – maybe up to five years. When a replacement queen is needed several fertilised eggs are nurtured. The first to hatch and to ‘quack’ (queen honey bees don’t ‘buzz’) sets about eliminating her rival sisters with her sting. That’s sororicide.
Members Pat Mahony and Ann McCracken organised the evening. “This session with Eshe Honey linked directly with our club’s latest project aiming to be ‘bee friendly’. We hope to encourage – for example – wider planting of wild flowers to attract pollinators, including honey bees.
“Members entered into the spirit, with bee-themed outfits and decorations galore. Plus, there was the opportunity to taste many fine honeys and to buy direct from Simon and John’s stall. We made a bee-line for this irresistible attraction.
“We all learned a lot. Fortunately, though, as Soroptimism is founded on friendship, we’ll leave sororicide to the bees.”