The Bees

The honey bees are the hardest workers on the bee farm!

Once you start learning about them you might get as obsessed as I am because their lives are fascinating!

Here are some amazing facts about honey bees:

  • In the hive, each bee has a specific job – nurses, guardians, foragers, undertakers, queen attendants (and more) - that they perform at different stages of their lives. And, of course, there’s a queen bee! She’s easy to spot in the picture on the right (look for the green dot)!

  • Bees visit 50-100 flowers to collect nectar and pollen on each foraging trip. They carry nectar in their “honey sacks” and pollen in the “pollen baskets” on their legs.

  • Bees have 2 stomachs – one for eating, and one for storing nectar and processing it into honey.

  • Guard bees protect the hive by stinging intruders and emitting a pheromone to warn bees inside the hive of any possible danger.

  • Undertaker bees remove bees from the hive that didn’t make it outside the hive before dying.

  • Both worker bees (all females) and queens have stingers, but drones (male bees) are stingless.

  • A single bee will produce only about 1/12 of a teaspoon of honey in her lifetime.

  • Honey bees are the only insects to produce food consumed by humans.

    Come visit the farm to meet us and learn more!

The Beekeeper

I’m Melissa Madera, the founder and sole beekeeper at Sweet Melissa’s Backyard Bee Farm. Our honey is made by the bees I nurture and care for in my Stratford, CT backyard. I want everyone to experience the delight of raw local honey fresh from the hive.

My obsession with bees is an outgrowth of my obsessive collecting of honey (I have 50+ jars from around the U.S. and abroad). In 2019, when I lived in Austin, TX, I decided to jump in to beekeeping and complete a beekeeping apprenticeship. I couldn’t start my own apiary right away since I didn’t have any land, but in 2022 I bought a house in Stratford, CT and started my apiary in the Spring of 2023. I’ve also learned about sensory analysis of honey and queen rearing along the way. I’m always looking for opportunities to learn more about bees and honey!

A little more about me: I’m a queer, first generation Afro-Dominicana from Washington Heights, NY. I work full-time in the reproductive health, rights, and justice space. My professional background is in research, education, and multimedia storytelling.

My favorite way to eat honey is on 100% Rye toast (which I love to make at home with honey from my bees) with butter or a spoonful straight out of the jar. What’s your favorite way to eat honey?