My daughter showed me this picture last night and it got me thinking, ok this is obviously generated in the States but I wondered how about here in the UK? $182,000, no way!
Google time, starting with what I know:
- one jar of honey equals 250grams
- one bee makes a teaspoon of honey in it's life
- a bee lives on average 40 days in the summer, during that time they work every waking hour on varies duties from the day they are born;
- 1-2 days - Cleans cells and keeps the brood warm
- 3-5 days - Feeds older larvae
- 6-11 days - Feeds youngest larvae
- 12-17 days - Produces wax, Builds comb, Carries food, Undertaker duties
- 18-21 days - Guards the hive entrance
- 22+ days - Flying from hive begins, Pollinates plants, Collects pollen, nectar and water.
- Day 40 - Their work is done...........
Now what I needed Google for:
- one 250 gram jar equals 50 teaspoons of honey, sounded about right with my experience of eating a teaspoon a day.
- the minimum wage in UK is £6.70 per hour.
But the question is just how long is a bees working day? Not wishing to be too controversial most people who are exploited on the minimum wage often do a 12 hour day. A bee works their entire life so technically that's 40 x 12 hour days for one teaspoon of honey, a grand total of 480 bee hours for one teaspoon of honey.
480 bee hours at £6.70/hour equates to £3216.00. With 50 teaspoons in a 250 gram jar that's £160,800.00 per jar!
It was a great year for my bees, one hive produced 80 jars of honey, WOW an amazing £12.86M in bee hours.
BEES TRULY ARE PRICELESS!!!
