Why Honeybees Are Important

Check out this video, below, which does an excellent job of describing the reach of bees and beekeepers in the nation's food-chain:

Sugar Shake For Mite Control - Video

We have some friends who have a rooftop hive in the Shaw area of town that has had some problems with varroa infestation.  We could actually see the mites on the bodies of some of the bees, and the mite count board below the IPM screened bottom board told a similar story with lots of dead mites.

We hiked some confectioner's sugar and a sifter up to the roof to do a sugar shake.  The theory goes, the bees get the sugar on their bodies and groom themselves to remove it.  This grooming behavior also brushes off the mites, that then fall through the hive and out the bottom through the screen.

Here is the video we took of our vertical expedition and then a trip to Old City Greens to check on their hives:

The Truth About Honey From NPR-VIDEO

NPR did some back-of-the-envelope research on the benefits of honey, presented in this video from 2010.