Βee’s world

Bees live in a beehive.
In a beehive, there live the worker bees who do all the work, the male bees called drones, who do not work but live for the fertilization of the queen bee, and the queen, who is the only one to give birth (from spring until fall). She secretes pheromones, which are the connective link within the beehive without them, the colony would fall apart.
The breeding season is 16 days for the queen and 21 days for the worker bees and 24 days for the drones. Around 10.000 bees live in a beehive during winter, whereas the number rises up to 50.000 during summer.

During its lifetime,the bee collects 1,5 g honey (a tablespoon full). In order to collect 1 kg, the bee needs to perform 120.000-150.000 flights to 2 million blossoms and fly 150.000 km (3,5 times all around the world).
The bee’s heart rate during a flight is 120-150 beats per minute.
The population of a beehive consumes around 31 l water, 80-100 kg honey and 20-25 kg pollen per year.
The foster mother-bees feed the worker-bee-larvae approx. 10.000 times before the latter seal their cells.

The bees
• can perceive and discern smells a thousand times better than human beings.
• are “meteorologists”: Before a rainfall, the all return to their hives.
• are “sculptors”: They can form shapes and letters.
• are “mathematicians”: The honeycombs are of meticulous precise measures.
• use the most rational geometrical form for their cells, the hexagon.
• can see colors.

Albert Einstein stated that our lives would change dramatically without bees, as they pollinate 60-70% of all plants on our planet.

The frame that the bees build from wax in the shape of a hexagon is called honeycomb: the perfect shape to use up all available space. The honeycomb is the place where the bees keep pollen as well as honey: this is also where the bees are born.
The wax that is produced may be used for creams or also for decorative candles.

Gelée Royale, the superfood. The worker bees and the queen possess the same genetic material. They differ related to their food, though: The worker bee is fed very little Gelée Royale as a larva, and pollen and honey after its birth. It lives between 40 and 180 days. The queen bee, on the contrary, is fed solely with Gelée Royale throughout its life. It is double in size compared to the worker bee and lives up to five years.

Propolis is a resin that the bees collect in nature and which they enrich with enzymes afterwards.
From propolis, we make Propolis Tincture.
It acts against fungal diseases and viruses and is said to be the strongest natural antibiotic. Due to propolis, the beehive is a society without bacteria, fungi and viruses.
Propolis tincture supports wound healing processes and has anti-inflammatory capacities when applied externally on the skin. When applied internally, it helps against a sore throat or a cold as well as against problems in the oral cavity. It is ideal for the peptic system.

However,honey is perhaps one of the rare products that, under suitable circumstances, stay unaltered for a very long time. Sealed containers holding honey were found in Egyptian graves (dating back 3500 years before our time), in which the honey was preserved in a nearly original condition.

The Beekeper
The bee’s work, the beekeeper’s work, the stings, the hauling, the risk, the joy, the sadness; all of the above cannot be put into figures. What we can do, though, is to share with you our love for the bees and nature, and to give you an understanding of the harmony, the quiet as well as the communality of a beehive. Each place we come to is reborn by the presence of bees. The flowers, firmly rooted in the soil, need the bees so that their species can continue to exist.

On Crete, there exist more than 2400 species of endemic plants. The dry Mediterranean climate provides the suitable conditions for a place full of colors and scents. A history of thousands of years finds its expression in the surrounding as well as the people. Crete is the cradle of the Minoan Culture, and other important cultures have existed here, too. During all those thousands of years, beekeeping existed and was further developed. Today, we can offer you a wealth of different sorts of honey of unique quality.
As soon as you will open one of our honey jars, you will feel like being on a madára, a mountain slope of Crete!