Marianne Goudswaard

Susan Sukkel
help the
bees and sow
honey-bee
flower
seeds

Blossom Bee
receives a letter from the Queen

 5 Blossom Bee receives a letter from the Queen.
Especially for Her Majesty,
Bea the Bee.
28 Build your own BeeBungalow.
30 How to make the best bee-garden or bee-balcony?
(including tips on natural, eco-friendly insecticides and pesticides)

32 Cooking with honey.

16 easy honey-sweet recipes you can make yourself.

42 Important Blossom Bee-facts.

44 History of the honey bee.

46 On the road with beekeeper Katja van den Berg.

 
 sunflower

Let me tell ya ‘bout,

The birds and the breeze,

And the flowers and the trees,

And an amazing little bug...the honey bee.*

* Loosely adapted from the song “The Birds & The Bees” by Herb Newman,
sung by Dean Martin in 1966.


cornflower 
 The beehive is a great ‘hive’ of activity.

All the bees buzzzz around enthusiastically.

One of the bees is the most important of all: the queen.

The queen bee is the leader of all the bees.

That’s why it is so unusual that Blossom the Bee receives a letter.

A letter from Her Majesty Bea, Queen of the Bees.

‘A letter from the Queen!’

Blossom is nearly afraid to open the letter.

Nervously, she examines the beeswax seal that secures it.

What a grand letter it must be!

Blossom’s brother Buzz excitedly hovers up and now.

‘Open it, open it, it’s probably very important!’

With trembling feet Blossom breaks the golden yellow seal.

She opens the letter and reads aloud:

 
 ‘To my
fi nest su
bject B
‘To my finest subject Blossom Bee,’ reads Blossom, I have
lossom
Bee,
be
Blosso en informed th
m the B
‘I have been informed that you are known as For th
is r
rave B
at you
ee.
are kno
wn as
Will yo eason, I wish
u gracio to call
Blossom the Brave Bee. of the w
or
usly ag
ree
u pon yo
ur
Our wa ld? We are in to help the b service.
ter and a time ee colo
There fo od are o f great nies
For this reason, I wish to call upon your service. Blosso
are too
few pla becoming dif
ces fo
difficult
ficult to ies.
m
four co the Bee, go fo r us to live. find.
rne rth and
Will you graciously agree to help the bee coloniezzz of the world? about th rs of the earth travel to
e honey to tell a the
Yours b ll those
faithfull ees. Seek frie you me
nds to
We are in a time of great difficulties.
Her M
ajesty,
y, help ou et
Bea B r kind.’
ee

Our water and food are becoming difficult to find.

There are too few placezzz for us to live.

Blossom Bee, go forth and travel to the four cornerzzz

of the earth to tell all those you meet about the honey beezzz.

Seek friendzzz to help our kind.’

Yourzzz faithfully,

Her Majesty, Bea the Bee’

 
 Blossom falls silent.

The Queen Bee is right.

It is difficult for bees to find food.

There are even bee colonies that have no place to call home.

Something needs to be done about this, and fast.

‘I’m going on a trip!’ she announces determinedly.

Blossom the Brave Bee is going to save the bees.

‘Buzzzz, help me to gather my things. Then I’ll

spread my wings and travel to the four corners of the earth.’

A little while later Blossom flies off into the air.

Seeking out friends for the honey bees.

10 11
 Down below in her garden, underneath the hovering Blossom,

poppies Lisa lies in the grass.

She enjoys the sunshine.

Blossom flies down and lands next to Lisa.

‘What a boring garden with all this grass’, sighs Lisa.

‘I wish there were beautiful flowers growing here.’

forget-me-not ‘What’zzz this I hear!?’ cries Blossom,

‘Fill the whole garden with flowerzzzz’

Lisa finds Blossom’s little bee voice very funny.

‘What sort of flowers do you wish for, Madam Honey Bee?’

‘Tasty flowerzzz, the kindzzz that we beezzz find delicious,’ answered

Blossom, ‘like daisies, pansies, clover and poppies*.’

* Want to know other types of flowers bees like?

More bee-friendly flowers and plants are listed on page 30.

12 13
 Lisa claps her hands. ‘I like all of those flowers, they’re lovely.’

Lisa promises Blossom to plant them immediately*.

* In the front garden and on the balcony.

‘Fantastic!’ buzzes Blossom happily, ‘then we can eat again!’

Blossom tells Lisa about all the bees and her own colony.

There are thousands of them, all looking for food.

Blos
‘But, then the flowers we plant will never be enough for all of you?’
flowseom Bee
rseed
Lisa gets quite a fright from this idea.

‘Many more people need to grow flowers’, says Blossom.

Lisa has an idea. ‘I’ll ask all my friends to plant flowers too.

If everyone has flowers in their garden,

bees will be able to find food everywhere.’

Blossom is thrilled. Now she’ll have help from lots of children!

‘Will you come by once all the flowers are in bloom, Blossom?’

‘Of course! I’ll bring my friends with me too!’

Lisa waves goodbye to Blossom, who’s already off,

flying away high up in the air.

* Order your Blossom Bee-flower seed sachet via www.fleurdebij.nl

or www.openbook.nu
14 15
 apple blossom pear blossom

cherry
blossom
Blossom Bee resumes her mission,

searching for friends who can help.

Rather quickly she discovers a beautiful garden.

This garden is in full bloom.

Blossom buzzes straight to it.

She could really use a nice sip of nectar!

Suddenly, she is surrounded by a thick, black spray of poison.

Coughing and gasping Blossom falls to the ground.

blueberry
blossom What a nasty shock, she is dizzy from the spray.

Once the cloud of poisonous spray has lifted,

Blossom notices a lady nearby.

‘Who are you and why did you spray me with that horrid poison!?’
strawberry
Blossom asks the stylish lady.
blossom
‘I am the Baroness Framboise de Cassis.

I am hunting the aphids that eat my magnifique blossoms’,

twittered the Baroness excitedly.

raspberry
blossom
16 17
 pears

cherries
apples
The Baroness is getting ready to use her canister of poison spray again.

‘STOP IMMEDIATELY! That poison is terribly bad for bees!’

Blossom is very angry. What a stupid Baroness!

Blossom explains that bees actually pollinate blossoms and

only then can the fruit start to grow.

‘Without beezzz, there’zzz no flowerzzz and no fruit.’

‘I did not know that,’ mumbled the Baroness,

blueberries blushing red at this terrible thought.

‘So, healthy bees are important for my fruit orchard,

for the apples, raspberries and blueberries.’

Baroness Framboise de Cassis glowers gloomily.

‘If I poison the bees, I can forget about my famous

apple pies and raspberry muffins. But what do I do about the aphids?’

Blossom has an idea that could help.

‘Shall I ask my friend Lola Lady Bug to help get rid of the aphidzzz*?’

asked Blossom. ‘That is a fine idea,’ the Baroness muses.

‘If Lola Lady Bug can come to help, I’ll throw away the spray canister.’

raspberries
* Interested in other types of natural insecticides? Have a quick peek on page 30.
18 19
 Night is starting to fall, and Blossom Bee is

growing sleepy from her adventures.

It is time to find a place to rest for the night.

Blossom searches for a nice bee-hotel,

most preferably one with a flower garden.

After a long search, she finds a lovely hotel

in a quiet, sheltered spot.

The bee hotel belongs to Madame B.

‘What a fine hotel you have, Madame B,’ says Blossom.

Blossom knows that many bees have no place to sleep.

‘If only there were more of these sorts of places for us!’

‘Maybe architect Reed Thatching knows of a solution,’ says Madame B,

‘now he’s a wild bee with wildly new ideas.’

Blossom completely blossoms up again

from this suggestion.

‘I’ll go to him right now!’

20 daisy 21
 A while later, Blossom the Bee pays a visit to the famous architect.

Blossom comes right to the point of her visit.

‘Architect Reed Thatching, can you design a clever bee-hotel?

One that children can make eazzzily themselvezzz?’

Blossom hopes that this way bee-hotels will appear all over the country.

Then bees won’t have to search for long periods for safe places to sleep

‘What a marvelous idea Blossom!’

Architect Reed Thatching buzzes with delight.

‘Tomorrow I’ll come to Madame B’s hotel to show you my design.’

Architect Reed Thatching buzzes off to his drawing table

to get straight to work.

22 23
 Blossom sleeps peacefully in the comfortable bee-hotel

And enjoys a breakfast of sweet clover honey.

Architect Reed Thatching arrives all aflutter.

‘Come along Blossom, I have a surprise for you.’

Blossom quickly flies after him.

Within moments they arrive at the most beautiful

Bee Bungalow that Blossom has ever seen.

‘Every child can build a bungalow just like this.’

Architect Reed Thatching surveys his creation proudly.

‘Exactly what I was imagining!’ cheers Blossom the Bee.

‘You are fantastic!’

Blossom embraces the architect, planting a great kiss on his cheek.

24 25
 Just then, Blossom gets the surprise of her life.

Bea the Queen Bee is suddenly standing before her!

Blossom the Bee curtseys deeply and stammers:

‘Your Royal Honeyness, why have you come?’

‘I have come to thank you, dear Blossom the Brave Bee.

The gardens are full of delectable flowers.

Spray canisters of insecticide are a thing of the past.

Soon, countless BeeBungalows will be built for us by the children.

And this is all thanks to you!’

Blossom glows with pride. What a lovely compliment!

‘Blossom Bee, I ask you to fly out into the world again.

Only this time as queen of your own bee colony.

I crown you hereby Blossom the Brave Queen Bee.’

And that is how Blossom becomes a beloved Queen Bee

of her own beautiful bee colony.

Where might she now be living with her subjects?

In your BeeBungalow of course!

26 27
 Build your own BeeBungalow
Blossom is looking for a home for her wild bee friends.
The best place is a quite one with a swimming pool in the garden!
Architect Reed Thatching specially designed the BeeBungalow so that
you can build one for your own garden or balcony.

Here’s how you do it! Wild bees pollinate many sorts of trees and plants.
Download the BeeBungalow design In this way they ensure that new ones grow and blossom.
from architect Reed Thatching That is why bees are so important for people; because of their
via www.fleurdebij.nl pollinating activity, we enjoy juicy strawberries, apples, pears,
The design drawing provides all the needed cherries, raspberries...and so many other delicious things!
instructions and steps for building the It’s also then easy to understand why bees so badly need a safe
bungalow. place to live. Architect Reed Thatching designed a cool
BeeBungalow for the bees.
You’ll need these items from the DIY You can build it yourself, so why not dive straight into action!
or Garden Centre: Organise a handicraft afternoon at home or at school. Together
• Water proof multiplex for outdoors: with your friends you can make a fantastic house for the bees.
6 mm width, 122 cm breadth x 61 cm
height (for 2 bungalows en 1 flower pot)
• Bamboo, 1 bunch of 5 sticks,
cross-section 3 to 10 mm
• Reed, cross-section 3 to 10 mm
• Iron wire (used for gardening)
• Tape
• Sanding paper
• Plastic for in the flower pot

You’ll need the following tools:

• Scissors
• Pencil
• Fretsaw with small saws or a
jigsaw with a fine saw
• Electric drill or hand drill
• Drill bit of 4 mm
• Wire-cutter, pincers or combination pliers
• Hand Saw
The design drawings and complete set of building instructions for architect Reed
Thatching’s Bee Bungalow can be downloaded via the website www.fleurdebij.nl

28 29
 Flowers and herbs Vegatables and Handy recipe for

mustard
which are important
as food for honey-
bees:
fruits which are
depending upon
pollination:
making eco-friendly
anti-aphid (plant
lice) treatment:
How to create the best bee garden?
• 1 Litre lukewarm Just like people, bees need to eat and drink to grow big and strong.
Flowers Vegatables asparagus water Honey bees eat pollen and nectar from flowers and they drink water.
African marigold Asparagus • 2 tablespoons oil They can find all of this in a garden that is in full bloom,
Begonia Courgette rapeseed oil or of
Cow parsley Cucumber sunflower oil) from spring until the autumn. Blossom the Bee has tips for
Clover Eggplant • 2 tablespoons soft transforming your garden or balcony into a true
Cornflower Fennel green soap Land of Milk & Honey for bees.
daisy Crocus Gherkin Mix all the
Avoid using insecticide
poisons against insects!
Daisy Onion eggplant ingredients together My friend the lady bugs hunt aphids and other
Dahlia Tomato and let the solution A variety of plants
types of lice if there are too many in your flowers and
Dandelion Radish cool. Transfer and flowers in your garden
plants. This means you don’t need any insecticide
Evening primrose Pepper the solution to a Bees love all sorts of flowers, so make sure
poisons! If you still have problems with plant lice, use
Grape hyacinths Pumpkin plant sprayer and that there is a wide variety available in your
products that are not harmful to the environment.
Heather spray the plants garden or balcony. Every flower blossoms at
Many small insects are eaten by birds, frogs, toads
Hyacinth Fruits courgette thoroughly from and slugs. Create a garden or balcony where
a different moment which means we can find
Poppy Strawberry all directions. food throughout the entire year. Another fact
nature can take her own course instead
borage Wallflower Apple This is is that plant lice can become a terrible problem
of the poison canister!
Snowdrop Apricot best done on a in gardens with, for instance, only roses growing.
Forget-me-not Avocado cloudy day to Creating a garden with a wide selection of
Sunflower Blueberry prevent the oil different types of flowers and plants means
Blackberry from burning that you won’t have troubles from just
Herbs Cherry plants’ leaves. one sort of insect. Nature takes
Anise Cranberry
radish care of herself...
Borage Grape There are also
Chive Raspberry eco-friendly
Lemon balm Goosberry products for sale:
Liquorice Melon www.ecostyle.nl
Dill Pear www.pireco.nl
Mallow Plum
Caraway Redberry
Lavender Orange A messy garden
Laurel Peach Avoid keeping the garden or
Marjoram Whiteberry balcony too tidy. Keep some
Mint Watermelon messy corners for shelter and
Mustard puddles of rainwater which bees
evening primrose Red pepper can drink from. My friends the
Rosemary mason bees like living in walls and
Sage among loose stones. Sand bees,
Thyme or ground bees, build
strawberry their nests in sand.
30 31
 breakfast lunch

Cooking with Honey

Bees make honey from the nectar that they collect
from flowers. They do this by extracting moisture
and adding enzymes. The honey is stored in comb
cells to mature. When the honey is ready these cells
are sealed with wax. Honey has been used since
ancient times to sweeten food. Blossom Bee is
proud to present her favourite recipes which you
can try out at home.

Muesli with yoghurt and honey Apple, goat’s cheese and sundried tomato
(1 portion) croque monsieur with honey dressing (1 portion)

• 5-6 tbsps yoghurt Toast the muesli croque monsieur:: Place the goat’s cheese, sundried
• 4 tbsps unsweet- on a heat in a • 2 slices bread tomatoes and apple on one slice bread.
ened muesli frying pan for five • 2 sundried Place the other slice on the top to form a
• 1 tbsp linseed oil minutes. Place the tomatoes sliced sandwich. Spread butter on the outside
(unrefined) yoghurt, linseed into narrow strips of the sandwich. Cook in a frying pan or
• 1 tsp honey oil, honey and fruit • 1 slice goat’s toasted sandwich maker on a low heat.
• Fresh fruit such into a small bowl cheese
as apple, pear, and sprinkle the • 4 thin slices apple Honey dressing
banana, rasp- toasted muesli on Mix a few slivers the dried chilli with
berries, straw- the top. honey dressing: the honey and spices. Once the croque
berries, black- • 2 tbsps clear monsieur is ready, this makes a delicious
berries or mul- honey sauce to dip it in.
berries. • 1 tsp Italian herbs
• 1 tsp dried red
chilies

Use
organic products
Organic food is
grown without
using pesticides,
which is good
for bees!

32 33
lunch lunch

Salad with grilled goat’s cheese on toast Honey tea Goat’s cheese, walnut and
(4 portions) (1 cup) honey sandwich (1 portion)

• 4 slices round Dressing: Warm up the grill in your oven by turning • water Pour water in the ice tray until the cubes • 1 slice goat’s Use cookie cutters to
goat’s cheese log • juice of half it to maximum heat. Slice the goat’s cheese • 1 tsp clover honey, are half-full and freeze. Once the water is cheese make flower, star or
• 2 slices whole meal an orange and place two slices on each piece of or any honey that frozen remove the tray from the freezer. • 1 slice whole meal heart shapes from the
bread, or sour • 1 tbsp lemon juice bread. Place the bread under the grill just is thick and opaque Spoon a drop of honey into each of the bread, or sour goat’s cheese. Place
dough • 1 tbsp mustard above the middle oven shelf. Grill until the • 1 cup hot tea cubes, fill to the top with water and place dough these on the bread.
• 2 handfuls walnuts • 1 tsp fresh thyme goat cheese is a light brown colour. • ice tray back in the freezer. • 1 tbsp clear honey Drizzle honey over
• lettuce of choice • 1 tbsp clear honey Mix the dressing ingredients in a bowl. Opaque honey because clear honey is too • 5-6 walnuts the top and sprinkle
• 4 tbsps walnut oil Lay the lettuce on a plate and sprinkle with runny so take note! with walnuts.
• salt and pepper walnuts and dressing. Place the toast with When the new honey ice cubes are
goat’s cheese on the top and serve. frozen make a cup of tea. Once the tea is
This dish can be eaten for lunch and also ready, drop in a honey ice cube. This will
makes a good dinner party starter. cool the tea down and sweeten your tea
at the same time.

34 35
afternoon tea afternoon tea

Mini apple tarts with lemon honey Crumble with fruits of the forest Muffins with blackberries and raspberries
(4 portions) (4 portions) (12 portions)

• 4 sheets puff pastry Defrost the puff pastry. Heat the oven to crumble topping: Heat the oven to 180 degrees. Muffins: Heat the oven to 180 degrees. Place 12
• 2 apples, peeled 180 degrees. Use a small baking tin to • 250g oats Slice the butter into small squares. • 1.5 dl milk paper cases in the muffin baking trays.
• 8 tbsps clear honey cut a circle out the puff pastry. Grease • 125g flour Mix the oats, honey and butter in a • 1 dl sunflower oil Mix the milk, oil and egg together in a
• butter the baking tin with butter. Quarter, then • 50g honey bowl. Rub between your fingers until • 1 egg bowl. Stir the flour, honey, baking
slice the apples. Place the apple slices in • 5 tbsps butter the mixture resembles breadcrumbs or • 500g flour powder and salt into the mixture.
a clockwise direction to cover the bottom use a mixer with bread hooks. Grease • 125g honey Divide this mixture in two by
of the tin. Drizzle two tbsps honey over fruit: an ovenproof dish with butter. Place all • 2 tsps baking pouring into two separate bowls.
the top. Cover the apples with the puff • 2 tbsps blossom the fruit in the dish and drizzle two tbsps powder Chop the blackberries and raspberries
pastry. Sprinkle with water and bake the honey honey over the top. Cover the fruit with • ½ tsp salt into small pieces. Place all the blackberry
tarts for approximately 10 minutes until • raspberries, the crumble mixture. Bake for 15 minutes • 100g raspberries pieces in one bowl and the raspberry
they turn a light brown colour. mulberries, until light brown. • 100g blackberries pieces in the other. Stir carefully.
redcurrants, Spoon the mixtures into the baking tins.
When the tarts are ready, turn them up- strawberries and Bake in the oven for 20 minutes until the
side down onto a plate. Serve with blackberries muffins are light brown..
a scoop ice cream.
Replace sugar
in recipes for
honey, each 200
grams of sugar =
1 1/2 dl of honey.

36 37
dinner dinner

Chicken with orange blossom honey Honey salad dressing Salmon with honey Asian-style broccoli with spicy
(4 portions) (4 portions) (4 portions) honey-shoyu dressing (4 portions)

• one whole chicken Heat the oven to 180 degrees. • 3 tbsps clear Mix the honey, lemon • 4 pieces salmon Place the salmon, skin down, in a baking • 500 g broccoli Steam the broccoli
(preferably Heat the honey and orange juice in a honey juice, salt and pepper with skin tray. Mix the honey, shoyu sauce, lime • 1 tbsp sesame for 5-7 minutes.
organic) pan. Stir until the honey has dissolved. • 2 tbsps lemon in a bowl. Serve over (preferably juice, sesame oil, chilli powder and seeds Mix the honey,
• 1 dl orange Season with salt and pepper. Pour half juice cooked haricot verts organic) pepper in a bowl. Pour this mixture over sesame oil, shoyu
blossom honey this mixture over the chicken. Cook the • 1 tbsp mustard or a green salad with • 1 dl clear honey the fish. Leave to marinate for 30 dresssing: sauce and pepper
• juice of one orange chicken in the oven for 1.5 hours. While • ½ tsp black croutons. • 4 tbsps shoyu minutes. Heat up the oven grill. Remove • 4 tbsps sesame oil in a bowl. Pour the
• pepper and salt cooking keep moistening the chicken pepper sauce the fish from the marinade and place in a • 2 tbsps honey dressing over the
with the remainder of the honey orange • ½ tsp salt • juice of 2 limes baking tray. Grill the fish for 6-8 minutes • 1 tbsp shoyu broccoli and
juice mixture. Serve with roasted garlic • 1 tbsp sesame oil until it is light brown. Delicious with rice, sauce sprinkle with
potatoes and green salad. • ¼ tsp chilli broccoli and cucumber. • ½ tsp black sesame seeds.
powder pepper
• ¼ tsp black
pepper

Put in one
tbsp of honey
when you bake
slices of onions or
brussels sprouts.

38 39
dessert dessert

Honey-nut pancakes Yoghurt with honey and walnuts Orange slices with honey and almonds Fruit salad with honey
(4 portions) (4 portions) (4 portions) (4 portions)

pancake batter: Mix the pancake • 400 g Greek Fill a large glass jar • 2 oranges Peel the oranges and • 3 apples Slice all fruit into
• 250g wholemeal batter ingre- yoghurt with the honey and • 8 tbsps honey remove the white • 4 oranges small pieces.
flour dients in a large • 1 jar of clear honey walnuts. Leave for • 100g finely pith. Cut the orange • 3 bananas Mix the honey
• ½ tsp salt bowl. Beat until • 250 g walnuts 3 days. This mixture chopped almonds into thin slices and • juice of 1 lemon and lemon juice.
• 1 egg a smooth batter can be used to make or walnuts lay two slices on • 4 tbsps honey Pour over the
• ½ litre rice milk is formed. Pour a delicious dessert. each plate. Heat a • 4 tbsps chopped fruit. Sprinkle with
batter into a frying Spoon the mixture frying pan and add almonds and chopped walnuts
honey-nut pan to make pan cakes. Warm the honey over Greek yoghurt. a few drops of olive oil. Cook the remai- walnuts and lightly toasted
mixture: in a pan on a low heat, add the nuts. Serve with berries if ning orange slices then add these to the almonds. Stir, then
• 100g honey Pour onto the pancakes, fold in half you have them. plates. Warm the honey then pour over place in the fridge
• 150g chopped and serve. the oranges. Sprinkle with the nuts. for half an hour.
hazelnuts
• 60g chopped
almonds

40 41
350C Important One queen and
thousands of female

Blossom Bee
Bees are able to maintain a nearly worker bees live
constant temperature in their colony in a beehive. In the
of approximately 350C. If the colony summer,several hundred

facts
becomes too warm they gather water male bees, called drones,
to cool it. Sometimes many bees may arrive at the hive.
flap their wings together at once to cool
the colony temperature. Warming the
colony is the task of the heater bees.
They do this by contracting the
muscles that usually beat The Bee Dance
their wings. Drones have an
Honey bees have their own
‘language’ to let each other know important task: What does the queen do?
where the tastiest flowers are growing To mate with the The queen lays eggs
in relation to the colony or bee hive. queen during all day long. During the
They do this through dance! summer she can lay up
round dance her mating flight.
to 2000 eggs per day.

Q
A round dance and a waggle, or
wag-tail, dance. A bee that has found She is cared for by a
flowers close to the bee hive does a number of worker bees
round dance while a bee that who feed here with
found flowers further away does royal jelly and wash her.
Nectar The queen is very
a wag-tail dance.
is gathered via a important and must not
bee’s mouth into the Worker bees become ill! Royal jelly is
honey stomach. waggle or wag-tail dance have different also quite healthy
Pollen is collected tasks throughout for people
by the legs and their lives. When
transported in a they are young
special pouch on the What products do honey bees make? they do the
hind legs. Bees make honey from nectar. To store the honey, bees build cleaning.There-
honeycombs made from wax. The wax is produced by the bees after they build
themselves. The wax is used to make many different products Honey bee in ‘second place’ combs followed
that we use daily such as wax candles and crayons for colouring. The honey bee holds second place in by caring for the
Beeswax is often used to give sweets and liquorice drops a Europe as most important domesticated eggs. Then, they What does Blossom have to do
glossy sheen! agricultural animal. This is because ±30% have the task of to collect 1 pot of honey?
of agricultural crops are dependent upon guarding the To make 1 pot of honey (450 gram)
pollination by the honey bee for their entrance to the Blossom Bee has to collect almost
propagation. The chicken holds the comb. The last 2 kilos of nectar. She flies an average
distinction of first place, second comes task worker of 50.000 times back and forth between
the honey bee followed by the pig bees fulfil is that flower and her beehive and visits
and the cow. of gatherer bee. about one million flowers.

42 43
 Ancient Egypt
In ancient Egypt
Honey and beeswax
The queen
Knowledgeable people had long
believed that each bee colony History of the
honey bee
were used for had a king. That is until the
medicinal purposes. discovery of the microscope
Egyptian beekeep- when the Dutch man,
ers travelled the Nile Jan Swammerdam
river with their bees (1637-1680), used it and saw Bees have been on earth longer than humans.
to follow the that the ‘king’ had ovaries. There are even prints of bees found in fossils
blooming seasons. The ‘king’ was, in
Bees were kept in fact, a queen!
thought to be 50 million years old!
clay pots. The oldest indication that humans collected
honey is from 12.000 years B.C. and were
found in Spain.

The square
beehive
is used to
this very
day for
keeping bees.

New York, Paris and London

At the start of the 19th century, bees were mainly
kept in the country side. Due to developments in
Aristotle agriculture and human use of large fields for growing
The renowned The removable frame crops, this environment is less attractive for bees nowa-
Ancient-Greek During the 19th century, the loose, days.The city is now developing as a place to keep bees.
philosopher Middeleeuwen removable frame was developed for In cities such as London, Paris and New York, bees are
Aristotle studied The 15th and 16th centuries saw an enormous blossoming of bee- beekeeping. The removable frame was being successfully kept on roofs of houses and other
bees 300 years keeping. Bees were kept in hives made of straw. The bee keeper a great step forward in beekeeping. buildings. ‘Urban beekeeping’ is the new trend!
before Christ. was a serious profession, not a hobby as it is currently. The first Until then, the combs had to be sliced

Francois Mori

Chris Penfold
He wrote a bee guilds were established in the Middle Ages. During that time, out of The beehive and everything got
famous book honey was the most favoured sweetener. Dishes that were meant damaged. Now that was no longer neces-
on the topic: to taste sweet were sweetened with honey. In the 16th century, the sary! This enormous improvement made
Historia Spaniards and Portuguese began to import cane sugar to Europe. harvestinghoney far easier. The beekeep-
Animalum. Honey became less popular at this time. Starting in 1800, sugar er could also keep a better
was made from the sugar beet in Europe. eye on the bees.
Paris London
44 45
 On the road with the beekeeper
Katja van den Berg werkt als imker bij de volkstuinen in Amstelglorie.
Op een zonnige dag in juli mogen we komen kijken bij haar zes bijen-
kasten. De bijenkasten staan in een zee van bloeiende bloemen zoals
borage, korenbloemen, courgetteplanten, klimop, margrieten en
vergeet-mij-nietjes. Een waar honingbijenparadijs!
Zelf een dag How do you become a beekeeper? Dat zijn eitjes die de koningin legt, waar
op stap met de Katja vertelt: ‘Ik ben eerst een jaar naar nieuwe bijen uit gaan groeien. De meeste
imker? school geweest om alles te leren over eitjes zijn van vrouwtjes, de werksters.
Imker Katja ont- honingbijen en het bijenhouden. Katja controleert een paar broedcellen van
vangt regelmatig Daarna ben ik hier begonnen met mannetjes, de darren, of ze besmet zijn
groepen kinderen, werken als imker.’ met de varroamijt. Deze mijt veroorzaakt
die zij van alles ernstige ziektes onder de bijen. Gelukkig
vertelt over bijen. Tabaco and white suits zijn de darreneitjes gezond.
Zo komen er vaak Katja gaat vandaag honing oogsten.
schoolklassen een Want daar gaat het natuurlijk om, die Bridesflight
dagje les volgen lekkere zoete honing! Imker Katja vult Darren zijn alleen nodig voor de bevruch-
over de honingbij. een klein potje met zuivere tabak en ting van de koningin. De bevruchting vindt
Katja’s helper Cisca steekt dat aan. Dan trekt ze een wit eenmaal plaats, tijdens de bruidsvlucht
komt dan langs met imkerpak aan. Dat is voor de veiligheid, van de koningin. ‘Darren zijn op dit
bijenwas, waarmee bijen steken eerder in donkere kleding moment niet nodig omdat de koningin in
bijen de raten bou- dan in lichte. Zou dat komen omdat deze kast krachtig is. Dat kan ik zien aan
wen in de bijenkast. beren de eerste honingrovers waren? het grote aantal vrouwelijke broedcellen.
De kinderen mogen Dat is een goed teken’, vertelt Katja. ‘In de
zelf kaarsen rollen Bij de bijenkasten tilt Katja het bovenste winter geef ik een deel van de eigen
van bijenwasmat- deel voorzichtig op en blaast wat rook honing aan de bijen terug. Ik voer ze
ten. Intussen vertelt in de kast. Katja vertelt: ‘De bijen reage- ook extra bij, zodat ze voldoende vita-
Katja over de bijen, ren op de rook door zich vol honing te minen en mineralen binnen krijgen om
hoe ze leven in de zuigen. Daardoor worden ze zwaar en de winter door te komen.
bijenkast. Kinderen loom en blijven ze rustig.’ Katja bekijkt de
die geluk hebben inhoud van de kast en is heel blij. Swinging the honey
mogen zelfs honing ‘De raten zitten barstensvol honing!’ Als Katja alle raten uit de kast heeft
slingeren! Wil jij ook jubelt ze. Raat na raat haalt imker Katja gehaald, kan het slingeren beginnen.
eens bij een imker uit de kasten, allemaal vol met de heer- Katja doet enkele raten in een soort
kijken? Neem dan lijkste zuivere honing. centrifuge. Door de raten heel snel rond te
contact op met de draaien, slingert de honing uit de raten, in
Bijenstichting. Breeding cells voor men de ton. Daarmee kan ze haar honing-
Kijk op www.bijen- and women potten vullen. Katja: ‘Ik ben heel blij
stichting.nl voor Dan komt ze bij de onderste laag van de vandaag! Ik heb heel veel honing kunnen
meer informatie. kast. Daar treft ze allemaal broed aan. oogsten. Dat wordt smullen!’
46 47
Download the Bee- Order your Blossom Bee-
Bungalow design flower seed sachet via:
from architect Reed www.fleurdebij.nl
Thatching via: www.openbook.nu
www.fleurdebij.nl
www.openbook.nu
Blossom Bee
flowerseed

Sources Blossom Bee-team: De samenstelling van Published by Openbook

Honeybees, Jürgen Tautz, 2007 Writing & illustrations dit boek is zo zorgvuldig Thomas Tomato the
Marianne Goudswaard mogelijk uitgevoerd.
adventures of a dutch
Websites Voor informatie die
www.brookn.nl Writing & editing onvolledig of onjuist is tomato.
www.bijenhouden.nl Susan Sukkel opgenomen, aanvaarden www.thomastomaat.nl
www.bijenstichting.nl www.susansukkel.nl de auteurs, redactie en
www.imkerplatform.nl uitgever geen aansprake-
lijkheid. Noch de maker,
Extra
www.rendementdoorbijen.nl/geschiedenis.html Writing & illustrations Deliciou :
s
for pasta recipe
sa
10 easy uce in
http://ruudendiana.webs.com/milieuvriendelijkebestr.htm Roan van Galen noch de uitgever stelt zich steps!

www.bijenhouden.nl/assets/flash/kinderflash/index.html aansprakelijk voor even-

kinderenwebhotel.be.previewmysite.com/WO_tijd/bijen.html Dutch>English translation tuele schade als gevolg
Deirdre Casella van eventuele onjuist-
Thanks to heden en/of onvolledig-
Jaap Molenaar, The Bee Foundation Dutch>English translation heden in deze uitgave.
Katja van den Berg, beekeeper & editing Voor verbeteringen van Thomas Tomato
Jacqueline Elfick de opgenomen gegevens the adventures of a Dutch tomato
houden zij zich aanbe-
I-Book volen. Alle rechten
Jean-Paul van der Plasse voorbehouden,
www.i-serve.com ©Openbook 2010.
Ieder kind mag alles
Photo’s wat in dit boek staat
Louis Haagman vrij gebruiken.
www.zomertijd.com
©openbook 2010
Design BeeBungalow©
This book is supported
Peter Hopman
by the Coalition
www.bureaulakenvelder.com
Biodiversity 2010.
Printing: Ecodrukkers
www.ecodrukkers.nl
ISBN 978-90-814138-3-1
Openbook publisher
www.openbook.nu
NUR 270

48