Category Archives: Basic Beekeeping

Beekeeper Writes Book About Honeybees: Buzzzzzzzz What Honeybees Do

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Front Cover_1I’ve been asked more than once what makes me an authority on honeybees or the subject thereof? I have also been asked what makes me think I can write a book about honeybees?  What are my qualifications?  Well, I will start with telling you I am not an entomologist. But for those of you who don’t know the answer, I will brief you… before and while writing Buzzzzzzzz What Honeybees Do, we had many beehives in an apiary in Ohio where I lived on a 25-acre farm. Later in life, and when we lived in Maine for about four years, we had as few as one to two hives. I have been a natural beekeeper and photographer of the little buzzers for years– and am currently, an advocate, of our greatest pollinator and encourage beekeeping.  Yes, Buzzzzzzzz What Honeybees Do, a nonfiction,  was written by a beekeeper, me.  The cover photo of Buzzzzzzz was also taken by an amateur photographer, beekeeper, and writer,  me. I’m not proposing to be an authority or know everything about honeybees– but having been a beekeeper and photographer of honeybees for several years certainly gives me a qualifying factor for writing a book about honeybees, so that is what I did.

With that mystery behind us… you will see in the photo below and left, a swarm of honeybees that are about to get a new home. It was such an exciting day and always  rewarding to get a swarm of honeybees in the wild. Behind
Swarm of Bees_Virginia Wrightthe veil and white jumpsuit, you will find (me) getting ready to help capture this swarm of honeybees. :-) I’d much prefer to be behind the camera taking photographs of honeybees, but this day, I was asked to help get the swarm into their new home (beehive).

If you would like to check out more of my nature photography visit my Instagram gallery.

To buy my books click here.

Radio Interview with Virginia Wright talking about Buzzzzzzzz What Honeybees Do, with Media Show Host, Don McCauley ( Don McCauley serves as host of a number of The Authors Show radio programs, a production created and produced by eBroadcastMedia.com).

https://virginiawright.com/blog/2010/12/author-interview-2/

-Virginia

http://www.amazon.com/author/virginiawright

 

In this photo, a honeybee swarm was arriving seeking a new home.  I stood amongst the honeybees shooting photos without any protective gear.

Swarm arriving...

Swarm arriving…

Honey Topping Recipe

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1 package Neufchâtel cheese
1/3 cup pure honey
1 tsp. pure vanilla ( Mexican vanilla in recipes is my fav!)

Honey Butter

Mix ingredients together, and Voila! This simple, but tasty topping is all ready for your carrot cake, and is great on top of fresh-made cinnamon rolls. If you would like more topping, just double the recipe.

NOTE: When you can, buy honey from a local beekeeper. Some manufacturers, so I am told, who sell a honey blend (honey mixed with corn syrup). They do this– to stretch the honey. If you buy locally, from a local beekeeper, chances are you will get PURE HONEY. You have every right to ask… then get only the best!

© Virginia Wright

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WHY POLLINATORS ARE IMPORTANT

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by Virginia Wright

Remember…honeybees, bumblebees, mason bees, sweat bees, wasps, hornets, hummingbirds and butterflies, are just a few of the “thousands” of pollinators on earth; and they all have very important jobs to do. We rarely– if ever, think of the thousands of other native pollinators that are diligently working on the plants. Our “unknown pollinators” bats, moths, flies, spiders, beetles, and bugs of all sorts, are working day and night to do nature’s work.  Pollinators definitely have a place and purpose in our environment. When we don’t have plants that our pollinators prefer, and we cut all the grass and don’t leave any wild flowers, and then poison all the weeds, we take away the very fodder our pollinators need! When we take away these sources, and we don’t have OUR very important pollinators– then we will only have wind pollinated plants– that is wheat, rice, and corn. Can you imagine living off of only those foods? I can’t. Help save our pollinators through, “Awareness and Education.”

For more pollinator information:

1.)    http://www.davesbees.com/pollinators.html

2.)    http://www.fws.gov/pollinators/

3.)    http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pollination

4.)  Buzzzzzzzz What Honeybees Do by Virginia Wright

© VW

Spring Pollinator Garden– Have You Planted Yours?

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Aster © Virginia Wright

THE HONEYBEE – Isn’t it interesting to know, that the honeybee is an “Insect” that provide us with something that we can eat? It’s that golden, sweet, healthy for us food called—honey! With the disappearing honeybee population, our honey supplies are diminishing in the United States. This situation is called CCD or Colony Collapse Disorder: and researchers are trying to figure out reasons for honeybee disappearance; some say chemicals are at fault.

You can help the honeybee population by planting a flower garden with flowers that grow in your local area that honeybees like. I will list a few that I know of that are great fodder when these wonderful pollinators are foraging for food.

*Zinnia’s

*Aster

*Heather

*Black-Eyed Susan

*Cone Flower

No matter what type flower plot you plant for the bees, don’t use chemicals on your garden…this could be detrimental (harmful) to these much needed pollinator’s.

Family Fun

Planting a flower garden for our greatest pollinator is an activity the whole family can participate in!

Buzzzzzzzz What Honeybees Do by Virginia Wright

Author Interview

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Radio Interview with four-time author Virginia Wright talking about her latest non-fiction book release– Buzzzzzzzz What Honeybees Do.  Interview conducted on The Children Author Show, with radio host Don McCauley.

Virginia Wright Author Interview October 2010