Extending a paddle

Reilly, our beloved retail manager, was paddleboarding last week and found a honey bee hanging out on the surface of the water. She immediately recognized this bee needed help! She quickly turned her board around and luckily, this bee “surfed” the waves she made. When Reilly approached, this bee happily clung to the paddle. Reilly placed her safely on her board, and this bee was Reilly’s companion as she finished her paddle, climbing onto her life vest.

This honey bee, a worker bee no doubt out foraging – we’ll call her Suzy – hung on to the board while Reilly headed back to the Taproom. Once she arrived, we grabbed some honey and offered a snack to a very tired Suzy. She lapped up the honey and started moving more quickly. She took off, flew a circle around us and pooped (almost on our heads!). Ha.

She stopped back for another snack and then headed off, flying in circles to orient herself. Honey bees fly up to 5 miles in search of nectar and since flying takes a lot of energy, a worker bee foraging can find herself far from home with low energy reserves. A drop or two of honey and Suzy was back!

If you find a honey bee in this similar situation, you can help by keeping her safe, offering her honey or a sugar solution, and she’ll soon be on her way.

Suzy’s plight reminds us of, well, us right now. We’re in the thick of the busiest part of our year, between all the amazing events at the Taproom, harvesting honey, and planning for the fall. Suzy reminded us that sometimes, all you need to refresh yourself is a drink with honey in it!

Can you relate? Stop in this weekend if you’re in the need of energizing and surprisingly dry honey beverages.