What you need to know about wild bees and bee honey

Bortevoy honey of wild bees is one of the most expensive bee products on the market today, surrounded by high-quality advertising support and many myths prevailing among its potential consumers. In the same Bashkiria, it is sometimes sold at 3-000 rubles for a 5-liter can. And on numerous sites, they are endowed with truly miraculous powers, calling them a cure for almost all known diseases.

There is even a joke among beekeepers, which says that the “wildness” of honey directly depends on the conscience of the beekeeper selling the product and the “wildness”, that is, ignorance, of the buyer. This product is falsified as often as other popular brands such as Bashkir and Altai honey.

The content of the article

  • 1 Historical facts
  • 2 What is happening these days
  • 3 Production technology
  • 4 Features of the bee product
  • 5 Useful Properties
    • 5.1 Color and smell
    • 5.2 Healing impurities
    • 5.3 What are the benefits for the body
  • 6 Ecological cleanliness

Historical facts

Breeding honey bees in conditions close to their primitive way of life is called airborne beekeeping. This is a traditional craft for Ancient Rus. In ancient times, beekeepers were called beekeepers. Hollow logs, an analogue of natural tree hollows, were known as “beards”.

Craftsmen chose empty tree trunks of a suitable diameter, cut them, and then repaired the upper and lower holes, turning them into a log. A notch made its way to the side. The finished structure was raised to the crown of a living tree and securely fastened.

Until the middle of the 18th century, such a beekeeping system was widespread. Until the 16th century, wild honey was obtained exclusively through the killing of bee colonies with the help of burning sulfur.

Later, striped workers began to be driven out of the beads intended for obtaining honey, and combined into several large nests for subsequent wintering. For this purpose, the insects were driven into an empty log set on top with the help of noise (tapping on the walls). The queens from different families also found themselves in the common space, where they fought for the championship – the strongest “queen” left for the winter.

Large bark decks were easier. They simply cut off the honey third of the combs, and the rest served as a brood nest. The production of honey was almost conveyor belt and went without any damage to the bees.

What is happening these days

photo-2

Massive deforestation and the emergence of beehives displaced the onboard beekeeping system. Now in this way, bees are kept more for the soul than for profit. While the income from the side apiary can be quite substantial, “wild honey” is highly prized in the markets.

Modern beekeepers work in various reserves of the Far East, Siberia, Polesie, Altai, and Abkhazia. Onboard Bashkir and Carpathian (Ukrainian) honey is produced.

Moreover, in Bashkiria there is special bee breed – Burzyan, whose gene pool is carefully guarded by specialists. The bee itself is included in the “Red Book”.

It is famous for its resistance to severe frosts and adaptability to living in hollows, logs, as well as peacefulness, reduced swelling, good resistance to various infections, high wax productivity (15-20% more than in Central Russian bees).

Production technology

The high price of a bee product is due to the complexity of its production. Such an apiary, set up in the forest, requires considerable physical endurance and painstaking work from the beekeeper.

hollow

If you follow the ancient technology to the smallest detail, you must:

  • choose an old tall tree – larch or pine;
  • with the help of notches, the first of which is carried out a meter from the ground, and a leather belt thrown around the trunk at the level of the bee keeper’s waist, climb to a height of 12-13 meters;
  • fix a special footrest at the selected height;
  • hollow out a hole of a suitable size using an ax, adze and a scraper (for grinding);
  • fix across in the new bee house two or three wooden splinters, pre-treated with wax to extend the service life;
  • close the hole used for work with bars;
  • drill several tap holes;
  • wait for natural settlement by a wild bee family or plant a swarm in a hollow.

Inspection of hollows and selection of honeycombs with honey is carried out from the second decade of July. It is also a laborious and physically difficult process. It is necessary to excise (cut) the honeycomb and lower it to the ground.

This technique is not universally used. A simplified form of keeping bee colonies is the use of an artificial board suspended from a tree 5-8 meters above the ground. And the most affordable option is to keep it in decks on the ground, like in ordinary hives.

Features of the bee product

photo-9

In the honey extractor, wild combs are not pumped out due to the lack of traditional frames! Honey is obtained with the help of a press or by gravity with natural heating by the sun’s rays.

The main requirements for production are:

  • lack of frames (instead of them, to speed up the detachment of honeycombs, splinters of wood or plastic are used – this is a modern option);
  • refusal to treat bee colonies with veterinary drugs (depends on the measure of responsibility and honesty of beekeepers who sell their product at fabulous prices);
  • placement of an apiary in ecologically clean areas, preferably near forest edges, meadows where wild herbs grow;
  • rejection of honey extractors (for well-grounded reasons – the pumping technology is different here).

Useful Properties

photo-4

As many beekeepers believe, the healing properties of the bee product are greatly exaggerated, since the use of any natural honey is delicious and very useful.

If you install two apiaries nearby – with hives and beads, the bees will work on the same forage lands. Accordingly, the chemical composition of the bee product in both cases will be identical.

Color and smell

It is believed that honey is darker from borti. Indeed, forest honey plants provide collection of darker nectar. But with a bribe from meadow forbs, the color will be noticeably lighter. Although in this case, the shade completely depends on the plant prevailing in the melliferous base, and not on the hive system used in the apiary.

Dark shades in forest varieties of the product can be explained by some admixture of honeydew in it. At the same time, the taste characteristics decrease – a characteristic bitterness appears. Light honey is almost always pleasant to the taste and has a characteristic herbal aroma. Dark varieties need to be thoroughly tasted before buying, so as not to be disappointed later!

The work of bee colonies living in logs in the foothills and in mountain forests gives honey additional beneficial properties, because rare melliferous plants grow in such areas (among them there are medicinal herbs).

photo-5

Some buyers note a special smell – “onboard”… Perhaps this is due to the fact that it is impossible to clean a tree hollow in the same way as a traditional hive. The final bee product contains certain microorganisms – it cannot be completely microbiologically pure due to the conditions of detention.

Healing impurities

The advantages of honey obtained from decks and hollows include the presence of various impurities in it in the form of wax, propolis, bee bread.

As for pollen (bee bread), it is present in any honey. There is nothing unique here.

Also, in the process of pumping, the bee product gets crumb of wax… These are parts of completely natural in origin wax cells and “lids” – a backing, with which insects seal the ripened nectar. All these are waste products of bees and the result of the work of their wax glands.

If the honey is not filtered immediately, the wax is in it for some time, and then it is removed during the settling process – the product self-cleaning, all the rubbish floats to the top of the container.

photo-7

Consumers are unlikely to like using honey with such pieces (only wax moths can absorb wax!). Therefore, the onboard product is also purified from natural impurities, as well as obtained by the centrifugal method. There is no difference between the bee product from the honey extractor and the one obtained by gravity – both there and there was wax present until the moment of cleaning.

Propolis admixture is the most dubious thing, since this sticky substance is used for processing wax cells by bees in microscopic quantities, and it does not easily dissolve in honey itself. Experienced beekeepers know well that to obtain propolis tincture (emulsion, extract) requires alcohol, vodka or heated water, as well as time. The mixture is periodically shaken and stirred so that the healing substances saturate the medicine as much as possible.

What are the benefits for the body

photo-8

The medicinal properties of bead or log honey are well known. As folk medicine says, it is:

  • strengthening the body, its immune defense;
  • rejuvenation, especially when applied externally in masks for the face, body;
  • beneficial effect on the digestive tract (recommended for use in diseases of the stomach, intestines, liver, kidneys);
  • strengthening of the heart muscle, blood vessels, prevention of pathologies of this system;
  • relieving stress, fighting bad sleep, irritability – general normalization of the nervous system;
  • cleansing from toxins, heavy metals, toxins – like any honey variety, there are high antioxidant properties.

However, any honey that has a natural origin and is used correctly inside has a similar healing effect! Without heating, overdose, one hour before or after meals.

 

Read: All about natural honey

Ecological cleanliness

photo-6

Perhaps this is the most important argument “for”, given in advertising of onboard honey varieties. Such a product meets all environmental standards and is 100% natural.

The statement is quite loud, since any flower variety is considered natural, including those obtained in a more familiar way.

The main sign of environmental friendliness is the absence of drug impurities. Bees are treated exclusively with herbs and natural methods. This is certainly possible. But in the case of serious infections and parasites, traditional methods do not always work. So, the use or non-use of various veterinary drugs remains entirely on the conscience of beekeepers.

Team . emphasizes that not a single sane beekeeper will use drugs to treat his bee colonies during periods of active bribe. And the fight against ticks always occurs in the fall, when there is no talk of honey production at all.

The pumped-out product is carefully checked by the buyers. In our case, honey is exported to the USA and Europe. The requirements for its environmental safety are the highest, which does not prevent us from using the same “Bipin” to fight ticks in a timely manner. After taking analyzes, no harmful impurities were ever found in honey (and it is the presence of drug residues, including antibiotics and acaricides, that is checked first of all). Which already speaks for itself.

It is noteworthy that a separate GOST has not been developed for an onboard bee product. It is certified according to general standards.

In conclusion, all lovers of wild honey, characterized by a high cost, would like to advise to get to know the beekeeper who sells this expensive variety. Visit his apiary to see for yourself where and under what conditions the honey product was obtained. Alternatively, check his quality certificate. This will help avoid the annoying purchase of a fake.

You can bookmark this page

Anna Evans

Author ✓ Farmer

View all posts by Anna Evans →