Bee & Honey Blog

  • Batteries Not Included - Inside the Brain of Mercy

    One astonishing fact about the honeybee is that its tiny brain is only one cubic millimetre in size, but it influences a planet with the circumference of twenty five thousand miles containing seven billion humans. So what actually goes on in this miniscule brain of mercy? Well, the average desktop computer makes around 100 million computations per second and the average modern advanced computer makes around 16 billion computations per second. These figures are mind boggling! However, the honeybee’s 1 cubic millimetre brain can figure out a whopping 10 trillion a second. That’s 625 times greater than the average advanced...

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  • Unity in Complexity - The 'Head Butt' of Community!

    In their wild untamed environment it is common for honeybees to outgrow their hive. When this happens several thousand worker bees will leave the nest with the queen to establish a new colony. Before this mass exodus takes place a few hundred of the oldest and most experienced scout bees will fly out in search of a new dwelling.  When the experienced scouts return they perform the famous ‘waggle dance’, commonly used for informing the hive about a potential food source.   This is where it gets really interesting..... It turns out that the honeybees choose the new site by...

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  • Why do bees have fur?

    You might think the answer is ‘because it’s their stab at being cute!’. Well not exactly. Although it does make them look more approachable (pic below) it is not something we really notice as they fly buy at 15mph. All we see is a flying needle as we jolt uncontrollably to avoid confrontation! The other answer might be ‘So they can stay warm’. Well, although that might seem logical in the winter months, bees generally only live 2-3 weeks and the hive is at its maximum capacity in the summer months when freezing to death is not an issue. The...

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  • Raw Commitment...The way of the steadfast

    Bee Mercy is a personal reality for those who work together to provide a service. The service of providing the seekers of well being the purest and most natural sweetness. Informative and nourishing. Within the establishment and continual success of what we do we are often presented with challenges that highlight the sometimes overwhelming odds we face. As we have mentioned many times before, the provision of honey is only part of what we do. The core of our personality is that of highlighting the plight and message of the bee and in turn highlighting our relationship and balance in...

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  • Sweet dreams! How Raw Honey can help aid sleep.

    We used to believe that the last thing you needed to do to get a good night's sleep was take a spoon of energy food! But surprisingly Raw Honey is great to help aid sleep. Here's the science...... There is research that demonstrates that raw honey improves and lengthens restorative sleep in at least three ways. When taken before bedtime,  raw honey: a) Ensures adequate liver glycogen stores for eight hours of sleep (this prevents or limits the early morning release of two stress hormones, cortisol, and adrenaline). b) Stabilizes blood sugar levels c) Contributes to the release of melatonin, the hormone required for...

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  • Embrace change - A Raw Honey Revolution

    From season to season, crop to crop, the taste, and texture of raw honey can change, even if it is from the same floral source. This is one of the natural changes that occur with raw honey. It is a natural change that used to occur with the majority of our food. However, today we have grown widely accustomed to the same taste experience upon every purchase.  With raw honey there is no meddling with nature, we just measure nature. Upon harvesting excess honey we measure the pollen count of that particular batch. Once it reaches the legislated threshold we...

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