Honeybee Gifts

Gifts from the Hive

Rebecca and Gail are at the St. Petersburg Saturday Morning Market October through May with the items below from our bee hives. Or you may visit our homes to pick up. If you are not local and would like anything except honey and pollen shipped to you please order online at: Rebecca’s Bees Store

Honey

Local to Pinellas County Florida. We use no chemicals in our hives, keep small cell bees which are more adapted to warm weather and with their smaller size are able to pollinate different flowers than larger, more commonly kept bees. Before keeping bees I did not know that many pests can assail them and many beekeepers end up using chemical and other treatments in their hives. We have chosen not to do this and use no treatments of any kind in our hives. The honey our bees produce is local, as contaminate free as possible, raw, and unfiltered.

Pollen

Pollen is collected directly from local flowers by the bees to feed their young.  It is very high in protein and contains vitamins and trace minerals.  We think of it as a natural multi-vitamin and take it in the morning due to the energy boost it brings. Our pollen is fresh frozen so has a soft flowery quality to it many people love to taste and must be stored in the freezer. Eating pollen daily can act to ease allergies over time by inoculating your body to the pollen so that it won’t overreact when you breathe it from the air. It is also used by athletes to increase endurance and performance.

Soaps

I make all natural Honeybee Soaps (4 oz bars) in small batches using beeswax and honey from my hives. It is aged so it will be hard and long-lasting with a finished oil content of about 8% so it will not be drying to the skin. Basic Ingredients are: Saponified oils of coconut, olive, rice bran oil, organic sustainable palm, organic cocoa butter, Shea butter, castor oil, and beeswax and honey from my hives. For specific batches I add are pure essential oils and things like oatmeal, cocoa powder, or natural spices. Types generally available are Cocoa, Oatmeal Honey, Honey, Lavender and various other essential oil blends.

Honeybee Balms

A balm made by hand with pure beeswax from my treatment free hives, organic cocoa butter, lanolin and organic sunflower oil will provide a protective layer for chapped lips or skin. I make an unscented balm, one with Lavender essential oil for deep healing, and one with Peppermint essential oil.

Propolis

Propolis is sticky stuff the bees make from things like pine sap they collect from the environment.  It is used in the hive to stick everything together, varnish the walls, build barriers to prevent wind from entering the hive and basically is like the bees duct tape.  It’s true purpose though is as part of the bees immune system.  It is anti-bacterial, anti-fungal, anti-viral and anti-inflammatory and keeps the inside of the hive clean and healthy.  We collect this in little pieces as we are working in the hives, store it in the freezer where it becomes brittle and less sticky and then grind it up before dissolving it in alcohol as a tincture or coconut oil as a salve.  This tincture or salve can then be used by us to disinfect a cut or heal a wound, soothe a scrape, added to water and taken internally as a natural antibiotic or a drop placed in a sore ear.  We also make a sore throat spray with it that includes the herbs mint, thyme, and oregano for a cold fighting punch.

Pure Beeswax

Pure beeswax from hives where no chemicals are used. Beeswax is a wick for environmental pollutants so it is important to use wax from safe beehives whenever possible.  Mine comes from hives that have had no treatments of any kind added.

Sunscreens and Lotions

I use our pure beeswax to make wonderful lotion with no harmful ingredients!  It has a short shelf life because I add no preservatives since our skin absorbs anything we put on it within seconds.  My favorite sunscreen is a big hat and long-sleeved shirt but some days that just isn’t enough or is not feasible.  For those times I make a sunscreen which has my lotion as a base and non-nano sized zinc oxide added to block the sun.  This will block the harmful rays but also blocks out the skins ability to use the sun to produce vitamin D so I do not support using it every time you are in the sun.

Deodorant

I use beeswax, coconut oil, baking soda, non-GMO corn starch, non-nano zinc oxide and essential oils to make this deodorant that really works!  I think the zinc oxide is a key in that it knocks down odor causing bacteria.  It comes in a 2 oz glass jar, simply scoop out a bit and massage it into the underarm area.  Smells wonderful of tea tree, lavender, and peppermint essential oils.

Toothpaste

Most toothpaste sold today doesn’t even list all the ingredients and those listed are not what I would consider edible or something one normally puts in their mouth.  There are many alternatives, I have made one that I and my teeth enjoy.  It has baking soda, coconut oil, sea salt, propolis tincture, and peppermint essential oil.  Due to the coconut oil, which melts at about 75 F, it changes consistency from a paste in warm weather to a sort of crumbly powder in cold weather, no matter, it will melt as used to clean your teeth and give a fresh and happy mouth.

Bathroom Cleaner

This is a wonderful. lovely smelling, hard-working and toxin free bathroom cleaner.  When I first made this I cleaned everything.  I loved it so much that the next time the sink was dirty I said to myself “Oh, look! I get to clean the sink again!”  Now, I am not an obsessive cleaner but this stuff smells so good and is so nice to use instead of horrible smelling and harsh chlorox like things that I was delighted to clean.  It works on tile, sinks, metal or ceramic and is great for bathrooms and kitchens alike.  It contains baking soda, liquid soap, washing soda, vinegar and essential oils of tea tree and peppermint.