Honey, I'm home

Sweetness abounded at Frank and Esther Martin's Bostwick home for more than 40 years. When their daughter, Cathy, was born in 1964, she was plagued with ear and throat infections. The family doctor advised the Martins to go down to the river and locate a bee hive. They were to extract the honey from the honeycomb and feed it to Cathy. They were unable to locate a hive. Frank found a honeycomb in a tree. Cathy was fed the honey and wax. The addition of honey to her diet proved beneficial as she shrugged off the infections and enjoyed a healthy childhood. The honey, produced from local flower nectar, built up her immunities to the allergens.

This episode led to a long career in beekeeping and honey production for the Martins and their business, Martin Honey Acre. Much of their knowledge was gained through trial and error experience. At the peak of their business, they had more than 50 hives placed on various farms as well as orchards. The bees from the hives pollinated the crops such as alfalfa. They also placed their hives in fruit orchards. The farmers benefited from the pollination provided by the bees and the bees used the nectar to produce the honey which would be sold by Martin Honey Acre.

The Martins first processed the raw honey from the combs in their kitchen. Esther recalls ruining a set of pots and pans as she learned how to separate honey from the comb.

As the business expanded they constructed a dedicated bee shed to work on the hives and remove the honeycombs. They added an extractor house where the honey was mechanically extracted from the comb. Their first extractor was hand-cranked.

Cathy eventually chose bees as her 4-H project. Her knowledge of bees and hard work earned her a trip to Chicago when she won a national competition.

Martin Honey Acre was a thriving business. The Martins sold their honey at the county fair where it was popular. Some residents purchased five-gallon buckets of the honey.

A favorite of visitors, young and old, to Martin Honey Acre was the observation hive. The commercial hive is a wooden box. The Martins replaced one side of the box with glass. Visitors could gaze inside the hive and watch the honey-making process unfold in real time.

Contrary to popular opinion, honeybees are not aggressive. They will sting when aggravated or threatened, but then again, don't we all.

When the Martins worked to remove the honeycombs from the hive, they wore long sleeve garments taped at the wrists. Pants were taped so there was no exposed skin. They would don a mesh beekeepers veil. Esther explained that a light application of smoke from a specialized smoker would calm the bees enough to allow the removal of the honey combs.

Honeybees are insects which fly. It has been estimated that one-third of the world's food supply depends on insect pollination.

The bees extract the nectar from the flower with a long, straw-like proboscis. They are social insects which live in colonies known as the hive. While carrying the nectar back to the hive, their digestive system breaks down the complex sucrose of the nectar into two simple sugars, fructose and glucose. They will then deposit it neatly into a cell in the honeycomb. They utilize their wings to fan out the moisture and thicken the substance. When the cell is filled, it will be capped with beeswax to seal in the honey.

As noted, honeybees are social insects. The most familiar honey bee to most observers is the worker bee. They are all female and do almost everything. They have a life span of 45 days. They feed the larvae (baby bees). They tend to the queen, clean the hive, collect food, build honeycomb and guard the hive.

It is the worker bee that inflicts the sting most of us remember from our childhood. The worker bee has a barbed stinger. She uses it when she defends the hive or herself. The stinger becomes stuck in the skin. She tears herself away, pulling out the stinger which results in her death. The venom sac, attached to the stinger, keeps pumping venom into the victim. Honeybees are gentle by nature. When provoked, they sting.

Male bees are referred to as drones. Their job is to mate with queen bees from other hives. If they are successful, they immediately die. If they don't mate, they can live up to 90 days. Each hive has one queen. She is the sole fertile member of the hive and is mother to all the other bees. The queen will mate with up to 15 different drones not long after birth. She then returns to the hive and begins to lay eggs. She will not leave the hive unless a new home is needed. When the entire hive moves, it is called a swarm.

When a new queen is needed, a healthy larvae, hatched from an egg of the current queen, is selected. Royal jelly, produced in the heads of young nurse bees, is fed to the larvae. This aids the larvae in growing into a queen. A queen bee is capable of laying 1,500 eggs daily. Queen bees live 5 to seven years.

Bees do not construct external structures for their hives. They employ hollowed out trees, fallen logs or man-made hives, Hollow spaces are their preference. They do construct the internal portion of the hive. They are able to manufacture a special wax (beeswax) which they fashion into perfect hexagons. They fill these cells with everything from honey, eggs and pollen.

To seal the cells, and guard against disease, they produce a substance called propolis. It is a combination of beeswax, honey and tree resins. It is anti-viral, anti-fungal and anti bacterial. It protects the hive from disease.

The complex nature of the hive requires extensive communication between its residents. And communicate they do. They have the ability to release pheromones which can say there is an intruder or they are a happy bee. The happy smell has a lemony aroma while the danger smell as a banana-like aroma.

When communicating where a nectar source is located, the bee dances by using special turns and wiggles.

Martin Honey Acre was a beekeeping operation where they managed honeybee colonies (hives.) Beekeeping requires skill and knowledge. A knowledge of local nectar sources is a must. Understanding the biology of the honeybee is of the utmost importance. The beekeeper must know how to manipulate the colony to ensure hive health and maximize colony strength.

The basic bee hive used by commercial and hobby beekeepers is designed to mimic the dimensions and environment of a bee nest built by feral honeybees. The man-made bee hive will have a removable top. This allows access to the frames of honeycomb. The space between the frames is kept to minimum to prevent the bees from filling the space with more honeycombs.

A standard bee hive consists of several parts, It will have one bottom board, one or two brood chambers. Each brood chamber will contain 9 to 10 removable frames. A queen excluder prevents the queen from moving from the brood chamber to the honey supers or frames. One or more honey supers which are boxes containing nine to 10 removable frames. It will have one inner and one telescoping cover. This will comprise one hive. Large operations will have as many as 1,000 hive or more.

The beekeeper will use several tools. Essential tools are the smoker, the hive tool and the bee veil. Some workers utilize a full bee suit as well as a hive brush.

Beekeepers must continually check their hives for health issues and growth. Hive collapse have become commonplace in recent years with the scientific community unsure if there is one or several causes.

The ultimate product from the effort expended by the bees and the beekeeper is honey. Other products are also realized from the hive but honey is the largest commercial product.

Honey has an unlimited shelf life.

At one time, beekeepers crushed honeycombs to produce liquid honey. It was a less than effective method as it forced bees to work harder to produce more honey. They were using their time and resources to build honeycomb rather than producing honey.

The invention of the centrifugal extractor solved the issue. This method (early models were hand-powered) allows the beekeeper to scrape or slice off a thin layer of wax from the honeycomb. The honey is then spun out of the comb by centrifugal force. The integrity of the honeycomb is maintained. The bees do not have to work as hard to repair any cracks in the comb.

Honey is available in several forms. Whole honeycombs are available for those who prefer honey untouched by human hands. A bite size piece of wax is cut off and chewed to extract the honey. Some chew until the wax is dissolved (about 15 minutes) while others discard the wax.

The most common type of honey is liquid. This is the honey which has been processed through an extractor. This freshly extracted honey contains bits of wax as well as the stray bee part. Honey may be cleaned by allowing it to settle in a holding tank. Honey can also be pumped through a filter to remove any debris.

There are several types of honey. Honeycomb is as fresh as fresh gets.

Raw honey has been extracted and cleaned using a settling tank at room temperature. It will granulate quickly and may separate in the jar with liquid fructose on top and the granular glucose on the bottom.

Liquid honey is honey which has been filtered with minimal heat. This is extracted honey which has been cleaned using a 50 micron filter. The honey is heated to the same temperature inside a hive on a hot day. It will granulate in two to six months depending on the flower nectar.

Creamed honey is produced from pure liquid honey. It is put through a controlled crystallization process. This produces uniform crystals resulting in a creamy and smooth consistency. It has no additives.

Liquid and pasteurized honey is honey which has been extracted and cleaned. It is then flash heated to a high temperature. It is super-filtered through a 1 to 5 micron filter then rapidly cooled. It loses much of its nutritional value but will not granulate.

The flavor, color, texture and aroma of honey will vary with the plants from which the bees have gathered nectar.

Honey has been found perfectly preserved in ancient tombs in Egypt. Heat will cause the beneficial nutrients in honey to deteriorate rapidly.

Honeybee produced substances are used for health and healing purposes.

Bee pollen is used as a multivitamin, energy booster and used to build up resistance to airborne allergens.

Propolis is used as a cold remedy as well as a boost to the immune system.

Royal jelly is used as an immune booster, multivitamin and for mental clarity.

Bee venom is used to treat more than 40 illnesses including warts, arthritis and multiple sclerosis.

Bees wax is used for candles, cosmetics and furniture polish.

Martin Honey Acre processed its last honey in 2005. A mite infestation destroyed the hive populations. The Martin's did not want to undertake the task of rebuilding the hives from the ground up.

After Frank's death, Esther moved from Bostwick to Superior. She retained the equipment they used in producing and processing honey.. She and Cathy created an exhibit at the Nuckolls County Museum. The exhibit showcases the equipment they used and how. The hand cranked extractor is there alongside the observation hive. Informational notes explain the process of honey making.

For Frank and Esther it was not just about honey. Esther relates it was a family project which strengthened the family ties. A side benefit was the best pollinated and best garden in Bostwick and beyond. The Martins could actually say, "Honey, I'm home," with a straight face. Cathy and Esther continue to include honey in their daily lives.

If you seek a sweet treat, stop by the Nuckolls County Museum and see how honey goes from the flower to kitchen. Then add in some love.