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Come visit Wake Robin’s Corner Shop and you’ll probably notice several glass jars filled with liquid gold. The jars contain honey produced on-site by our honey bees. What makes our honey special? Happy bees! At some point in the history of Wake Robin, “someone really thought about what to plant to encourage the honey bees,” said Dr. Helen Young, a noted biologist, professor and bee researcher at Middlebury College. She recently visited Wake Robin to discuss pollinators and was impressed with our “bee friendly” landscape.
Little known bee facts like - there are 15 different varieties of bees in Vermont (over 70 varieties nationwide), were interesting, but, the fact of all facts was this: the key to successful pollination, and thus agricultural sustainability, is largely dependent on the length of the bee’s tongue. That’s right. Tongue length does matter.
Bumble bees have long tongues and fuzzy bodies suitable for pollinating agricultural crops like blueberries, beans, and peppers. Honey bees have shorter tongues, thus shorter flowers are favored; bee balm, clover, and mint are good examples. Honey bees focus on visiting as many flowers as possible and bringing nectar back to the hive.
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