himself took up the practice about four years ago. George now maintains 52 hives, which in summer are populated by more than 4 million bees, while in winter the population drops to about 780,000 bees. That certainly sounds like a lot of bees, but George puts those numbers into better perspective.
"It can take as many as 500 visits to the flowers to fill the stomach of a bee and it will take 15-20 exits to make one gram of honey."
In order for a beekeeper to begin producing honey, George tells us, "You have to have at least two hives populated by no less than thirty-seven thousand bees to start producing honey. Inside a hive, the queen lays the eggs - approximately three thousand per day. Then there are the worker bees, which collect the nectar and pollen and bring it back to the hive.
"The bees pick up nectar from flowers, the sugar content needed could be as low as ten per cent or as high as forty per cent. The Queen deposits the nectar into a cell then follows a process of regurgitating it and dehydrating it until it reaches a moisture content of less than eighteen per cent. At that stage she seals the cell.
"Once the cells are sealed the beekeeper then takes the frames one by one and uses a special fork-like instrument to uncap the cells. The frames are then placed in a drum, which might be either manual or electric. I have a manual drum, which means I have to turn the handle that spins the frames inside, and the honey is released. The honey is then strained before being poured into tins, and finally jars."
Of course the varieties of honey produced round the world are nearly as infinite as the variety of plants and flowers in nature; but on Corfu a good deal of the honey is produced from the blooms of the acacia tree. George's bees have a free range of many different flowers to pollinate, so the honey they produce is more or less a blend consisting of various pollens.
Always a delicate operation, some of the hazards the bees face are disease, attack by hornets and wasps, rodent infiltration or bad weather that can freeze the blossoms, thereby leaving no nectar for the bees to collect.
And of course there are obvious hazards for the beekeeper, too! Most of us have experienced a single bee
The Secret Life of Bees (on Corfu) - Healthy Living - Corfu Magazine - Vol. 4, No. 4, June 15, 2009
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The Secret Life of Bees (on Corfu)
by David A. Ross
sting, but what must it be like to be caught in an angry swarm?
"I once had so many stings on my head that the stingers had to be removed. My hands were also badly stung once and ended up looking like a pair or blown-up rubber gloves. However, antihistamine tablets and cream from the doctor solved the problem. It's actually good to have a few stings now and again so your body develops the antibodies to fight off the infection."
So often, it seems, we take the phenomena of nature for granted, but keeping bees, George relates, brings not only appreciation of the natural world, but also a sense of awe and wonder at its marvelous workings. For example: Have you ever wondered why the bees return time and again to the same hive? George tells us: "It is the queen's pheromones that bind the hive together. The bees recognise the specific pheromones of their queen and return to her like loyal soldiers." Perhaps a bit ironic is the fact that while they recognise the pheromones, they remain more or less oblivious to the beekeeper. No question where their loyalty lies.
As for the health benefits of eating fresh, organically-produce honey, it is extremely rich in vitamin C. What' more, it is a natural sweetener, highly superior to processed sugar or aspartame (which is a known carcinogen).
After all the work involved in beekeeping and honey production - not to mention the obvious risks - one might wonder: What is the beekeeper's favourite way to eat the honey? George Christofi's favourite is honey on toast for breakfast, or honey in yogurt for a snack in the evening.
However one might assess this age-old hobby or vocation, it no doubt entails a good bit of work to produce the sweetest of nature's rewards. George personally spends between one and two hours everyday. He not only monitors the activity of the bees (especially during spring and summer) but during winter he feeds them honey. Also, when the grass grows around the hives he needs to keep it trimmed.
Like many Corfiots, George Christofi has an intimate affiliation with nature and with agriculture. While he and his wife Pauline operate a very hospitable guesthouse of apartments and studios for tourists during the summer, George's love and affinity for nature, for its creatures, and for the land may well be his first love. And who could blame him? Corfu is a splendid natural setting and lends itself well to a pure and natural life. George and Pauline often give the honey - as well as home grown vegetables and fruits - to their summertime guests, and all who are fortunate enough to take home a jar of George's honey no doubt enjoy not only its splendid flavour, but also the fine memories of their time spent with the Christofis.
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George Christofi, long- time resident of Roda Village on the north coast of Corfu, first became interested in beekeeping through a friend, and he
