Be Like Bees

26/05/2026

Oxalic acid?

"Oxalic acid is a naturally occurring compound in many fruits, vegetables, nuts, and whole grains. While small amounts of oxalic acid are not harmful, this compound can inhibit the absorption of other important nutrients.
Due to its ability to reduce nutrient absorption, some people refer to oxalic acid, or oxalate, as an anti-nutrient. In some people, it can also increase the risk of kidney stones.
Certain gut bacteria can metabolize, or break down, oxalic acid. This prevents it from binding to minerals and affecting nutrient absorption.
This article looks at oxalic acid and its associated risks in more detail. It also lists dietary sources of the compound and explains how people can decrease their intake."
If oxalic acid in food binds to certain minerals within human bodies, is it doing so to in bee bodies?"
medicalnewstoday.com/articles/oxalic-acid

"Aluen CAP is for animal treatment only and is classified as a poison, so it must be kept out of reach of children and handled with appropriate care. When applying or handling strips, users must wear buttoned cotton overalls (or equivalent clothing), gauntlet‑length chemical‑resistant gloves and goggles, and work in a well‑ventilated area.
Storage and disposal are straightforward: keep the original closed container below 30 °C, protect it from light, discard unused strips 24 hours after opening, and dispose of packaging and any unused product in line with local regulations without burning."
Aluen CAP Warning on pack

"Some interesting things I noticed during this pilot trial were:
how quickly the strongest hive chewed the strips (Figure 5), how some hives stopped raising brood under the strips (Figure 6), how the queen in the hive with the lowest population stopped laying, was seen being balled by her workers, and eventually disappeared (Figure 7), how poorly some hives removed strip debris from the bottomboard (Figure8)"
honeyflow.com.au/blogs/pests-and-diseases/observations-on-oxalic-acid-drizzle-and-strip-treatments

Oxalic acid, or oxalate, is a compound in many plant foods. In large quantities, it can inhibit the absorption of some nutrients. Learn more.

23/05/2026

Visited a beautiful hive in Newport today. Amazing nectar flow, it was dripping from the frames!
Two boxes full of brood and honey and four flow hive frames capped.
No packdown for these girls yet.

20/05/2026

15/05/2026

🐝 Why Bees Swarm — and How Beekeepers Can Help Prevent It

Swarming is one of the most natural things honey bees do. It’s how a strong colony reproduces. When a hive gets crowded, the queen is laying well, nectar is coming in, and the bees feel like they’re running out of space, the colony may raise a new queen. The old queen then leaves with a large group of worker bees to start a new home.

To the bees, swarming is success. To the beekeeper, it can mean losing half the workforce right before the honey flow!

The main reasons bees swarm are:

✅ Overcrowding — too many bees and not enough room
✅ Backfilled brood nest — nectar gets stored where the queen should be laying
✅ Poor ventilation — hot, crowded hives build swarm pressure
✅ Old or failing queen — colonies with older queens are more likely to prepare to swarm
✅ Strong spring build-up — healthy colonies can grow faster than expected

Ray recommends staying ahead of the bees, not reacting after they’ve already made up their minds. The best swarm prevention starts early in spring.

Here are a few proven ways to reduce swarming:

🐝 Add space before the colony is packed
🐝 Add supers early when nectar flow begins
🐝 Keep the brood nest open so the queen has room to lay
🐝 Reverse brood boxes when appropriate in spring
🐝 Make splits from booming colonies
🐝 Replace older queens with young, productive queens
🐝 Inspect every 7–10 days during swarm season
🐝 Watch for swarm cells along the bottom edges of frames

One important note: simply cutting out queen cells usually does not stop swarming. Once the colony is deep into swarm mode, they often keep trying. It’s better to fix the reason they want to swarm: crowding, congestion, lack of laying space, or queen issues.

A strong hive is a blessing, but it needs timely management. Give bees room before they need it, keep young queens when possible, and check colonies regularly during spring buildup. Good swarm prevention means more bees stay in your boxes, more honey gets made, and fewer surprise calls from the neighbor about a basketball-sized cluster hanging in a tree. 🐝🍯

Learn more by visiting https://MountainSweetHoney.com/bees

13/05/2026

Numerous times this week I've had to explain what I do. Everyone understands when I say I'm a mentor and educator, but then when I say 'beekeeper' they think hundreds of hives and selling honey.
Writing a bio today I thought I might change it up and see the reaction. I described myself as a 'beecarer'. I did think of a 'Manager of Superorganisms' but that seemed a bit complicated.
Let's see how my new network reacts to 'beecarer'.

09/05/2026

https://www.facebook.com/share/p/1HmmH7ZoYH/

🐝 "Can Bee Venom Really Defeat Breast Cancer? The Science Behind the Discovery"

​In recent years, an extraordinary story has taken the world by storm, sparking new hope in the fight against cancer: honeybee venom contains a substance capable of destroying the cells of the most aggressive form of breast cancer. But how much of this is true, how exactly does this mechanism work, and what is the realistic timeline for this medicine? 🕵️‍♂️ Let’s dive in, step by step, and explore all the details of this fascinating scientific research!
​🧪 The Experiment: From Bees to the Microscope 🔬
​It all started in the laboratories of the Harry Perkins Institute of Medical Research and the University of Western Australia 🇦🇺. Here, Dr. Ciara Duffy led a team of scientists in a meticulous endeavor: collecting and testing the venom of 312 honeybees and bumblebees from Perth (Western Australia), Ireland, and England 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿🇮🇪.
​The research goal was highly targeted. The scientists wanted to test the effects of the venom on different clinical subtypes of breast cancer, with a special focus on those that are hardest to treat:
​🧬 Triple-Negative Breast Cancer: A highly aggressive form of cancer that currently has painfully limited treatment options.
​🛡️ HER2-Enriched Breast Cancer: Another clinical subtype known for its rapid growth and spread.
​🐝 The Killer Molecule: The Superpower of Melittin ⚡
​The results of the study, published in the prestigious international journal npj Precision Oncology, left the scientific community absolutely speechless 😮. The bee venom proved to be incredibly fast and effective at destroying cancer cells.
​The true hero behind this feat is called Melittin 💎, a peptide (a small protein) that makes up about 50% of honeybee venom. Here is how this extraordinary molecule works:
​⏱️ Lightning-Fast Destruction: In just 60 minutes, melittin manages to puncture and completely rupture the protective membranes of the cancer cells.
​🛑 Halting Growth: Within a mere 20 minutes of application, melittin cuts off the internal chemical signals that the cancer cell uses to replicate and survive.
​🎯 Selectivity: At just the right concentration, scientists observed that the venom killed 100% of the cancer cells while keeping damage to normal, healthy breast cells to an absolute minimum.
​Another massive benefit? No bees need to be harmed! 🌸 Scientists can now fully synthesize melittin in the lab, producing a substance identical to the natural version but highly scalable for research.
​🤝 Teamwork with Chemotherapy 💊
​Dr. Duffy wanted to take it a step further by testing whether melittin could "collaborate" with existing, traditional therapies 🧪.
​The discovery was brilliant: because melittin creates actual holes (pores) in the wall of the cancer cell, it acts as a door opener 🔑. Through these pores, chemotherapy drugs (such as the commonly used docetaxel) can easily pe*****te deep into the diseased cell.
​In mice trials, this devastating combination reduced tumor growth far more effectively than chemotherapy alone 📉.
​🚦 Enthusiasm vs. Reality: Where Do We Stand? ⏱️
​It is easy to get swept away by the excitement when hearing phrases like "100% death of cancer cells." However, science demands rigor, patience, and intellectual honesty 🧠. To understand the true status of this discovery, we must look at a few key factors:
​🧫 In Vitro vs. In Vivo: There is a monumental difference between destroying cancer in a glass petri dish in a lab and curing a living, breathing human being. The human body is infinitely more complex.
​⚠️ The Toxicity Issue: If melittin were injected directly into a patient’s bloodstream, it wouldn't know where to go and would attack red blood cells indiscriminately, causing severe damage 🩸.
​🚀 The Challenge of the Future: Researchers are now working on designing super-smart delivery systems (like nanoparticles) to encapsulate the melittin and deliver it exclusively inside the tumor, keeping the rest of the body safe.
​⏳ Medical Timelines: Moving from lab testing to a safe, commercially available drug for humans requires several phases of clinical trials and many years of hard work.
​🌟 A Beacon of Hope for the Future 🌅
​While this study does not yet represent a ready-to-use cure in our hospitals, it has paved a wonderful and highly innovative path 🗺️. It proves that nature, when studied with the right technological tools, hides extraordinary answers for our health.
​Research into bee venom continues to make giant strides, and perhaps one day, melittin will become one of the most powerful weapons in a doctor's arsenal to protect the lives of millions of women worldwide 🌸.

01/05/2026

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