Daily skin care: For healthy skin that loves you back, follow the Worker B skin care routine: Exfoliate just 1-2 times per week followed by applying our lotions, serums and creams containing naturally nourishing and soothing ingredients. Weekly skin care: For a sweet weekly skin care treatment, simply add raw sugar to our Raw Honey Face Wash, massage on your skin and let sit for 20 minutes. You won’t believe the results! Sun protection: A little Vitamin D is healthy, but too much and your skin pays the price. We prefer physical sun blockers like titanium oxide and zinc oxide…

Buckthorn By Megan Wannarka   About the Plant Common Buckthorn (Latin name Rhamnus cathartica) is a well-known naturalized invasive bush in North America. Native to Europe, northwest Africa, and western Asia. It was brought to the US as a popular hedging material. The greenish-yellow flowers have 4 petals and typically are in bloom from April until July turning into small black fruit. The fruit is mildly poisonous for humans and most other animals, but birds eat them and disperse seeds. Common Buckthorn differs from similar-looking chokecherry (Prunus virginiana) as each fruit contains three to four seeds. Both grow in the…

Alfalfa By Megan Wannarka About the Plant Alfalfa (Latin name Medicago sativa) is a long-lived perennial legume. Flowers vary in color from purple to yellow and are borne in loose clusters. Typically grown as hay and cut before fully flowering for livestock or also used as green manure or cover crop to fix nitrogen. Introduced from Spanish colonizers to the Americas. Originating in warmer climates is the oldest grown crop for forage, so there are many cultivars. (USDA, 2002) (Wikipedia Contributors, 2020) Figure 1 Flowering alfalfa Medicago sativa plant Photo by Temuri Balakhashvili Alfalfa is also known as lusern in…

Fuzzy Wuzzy Was A Bumblebee By Megan Wannarka Figure 1 Bumblebee (Bombus sp.) on Speedwell flower (Veronica sp.) “We had this beautiful huge fluffy bee living under our porch. His body was like the size of a big grape, and he seemingly lived alone. I’d never seen anything like him. Do you know what type of bee that is?” As you can see from the picture above, that large flying fluffy grape-sized bee is a bumblebee. They are the teddy bears of the bee world.  Figure 2 Bumblebee casts sizes via Bumblebee - an overview. Retrieved August 9, 2020, from…

Is it a Bee? Written by Megan Wannarka   Most beekeepers have gotten a call about a possible swarm of honey bees (free bees!) only to find and most likely for them to be a wasp nest instead. In general, people are likely to say bee when they mean wasp but do not know the difference. Here I will show you the differences to hope you learn the difference and catch yourself correcting the use of bee when really it is a wasp.    It is understandable why people would get these two insects confused. They both have three body…

Love it or hate it, Buckwheat honey is something to try! By Megan Wannarka of Bee.otany Edited by Brian Dykstra     Maybe you’ve seen this dark jar of honey in a store and thought to yourself…is that even honey? The color resembles brown, rich gravy, not the amber yellow that brings to mind “honey.” But would you taste it? Most people think that honey “should be” a shade of transparent yellow or orange or maybe even light brown color, but not an opaque dark brown, leading many not even to taste if they have the opportunity.   I do…

(photo credit: Chris Tonnesen) by Josh Evans (http://nordicfoodlab.org/blog/2015/9/4/bee-bread) Honeybees (Apis mellifera) have mastered feats of chemical engineering as various as they are alchemical. Their most well-known substances are of course honey, their concentrated, stable, hive-warming energy source, and wax, their pliable, moisture-proof structural material. Yet there are others which nowadays are known primarily only to beekeepers and practitioners of traditional medicines. Propolis (or ‘bee glue’) is used as a structural sealant and potent antimicrobial agent within the hive and carries a beautiful resinous aroma. Royal jelly is what all brood—the immature larvae and pupae—are first fed before being weaned onto…

Opening September 2019 St. Paul, MN Application posting date: August 9, 2019 Application closing date: September 27, 2019 Worker B Wellness offers an integrative approach in maintaining wellness and supportive healing practices, by offering the application of bee based products in facials, massage therapy treatments, float therapy, infrared sauna, halo therapy and meditation in a beeswax meditation room. Part and full-time positions offered Pay is based on experience Wellness Center Reception Attendant Applicant Requirements: • Educational experience: preferred degree or associate degree in Business Management, Marketing or Education, although not required if work experience required is met • Work experience:…

    We hear about all of the issues effecting the bees but what are they? Honeybees are far from defenseless as they are equipped with stingers. Beekeeping 101...there are 3 types of bees in the hive, a queen (1 per hive), worker's (up to 50,000) and drones (a few hundred peak season). The queen and the workers are all female and have stingers attached to a venom sack. The worker's have barbed stingers as to stick into the skin along with the venom sack that pumps, it is ripped from the bee as she pulls away. This means that…

Up to 1 million of the estimated 8 million plant and animal species on Earth are at risk of extinction — many of them within decades — according to scientists and researchers who produced a sweeping U.N. report on how humanity's burgeoning growth is putting the world's biodiversity at perilous risk. Insect pollinators are unfortunately an excellent example of the problems caused by human activities. There's a newly coined phrase for insect declines — the 'windshield effect' — owing to the fact that if you drove your car at dusk 30 years ago, you would need to clean the windshield…

This matcha honey latte recipe is rich in antioxidants and a great alternative to coffee to satisfy your caffeine buzz. 1 1/4 tsp matcha powder 1 Tbsp raw basswood honey (more or less to preference + depending on sweetness of milks chosen) 1 Tbsp hot water 1 1/2 cup milk/s of choice- (I love Oatly original) (Unsweetened Milkadamia is nice, too) (For a more indulgent experience, mix it up with half coconut milk and a few granules of sea salt!) Place the matcha, hot water, honey and salt into a mason jar and shake until absorbed. You can easily whisk this in…

According to the BBC, 40% of species are undergoing "dramatic rates of decline" around the world. We could witness the extinction of 40 percent of our planet's insects within the next few decades. Bees, ants, and beetles are disappearing eight times faster than mammals, birds, or reptiles. Unfortunately, we have unsustainable agricultural practices, deforestation, urbanization, fertilizers, invasive species, pathogens, pesticides, and climate change to blame. It's not surprising that bees have been hit the hardest from huge population declines. Here is how you can help our flying friends: 1. Plant flowers and flowering herbs. 2. Don't fear weeds! Clover and…

For the Winter Bicyclist or Cross Country Skier Our Treatment Stick is a must-have windsheer for anyone who enjoys Minnesnowtan sports or cycling. Gift it on it's own, or shop the MN Survival Kit with the mini version and two other dry skin helpers (Lip balm, Cream, and Rescue Putty). [gallery columns="2" size="medium" link="none" ids="7398,7397"]   For the Holiday Host Share the magic of summer all winter long by gifting bee-made products to friends and family. Candles make wonderful host gifts: you can choose between two sizes of hex candles online, or shop in person for our extra-special bayberry blend…

We've been buzzing all over Minnesota (and beyond!) since Art Attack. Here's where you can find us through November and December for all your holiday shopping needs.   EVENTS North Local Market  City Center, Downtown Minneapolis Runs through Dec 27th Kick off the Holidays Keg and Case Black Friday & Small Business Saturday Renegade Craft Fair Chicago Dec 1st & 2nd No Coast Craft-O-Rama  Midtown Global Market, Minneapolis Dec 7th & 8th   ONGOING  Rose and Loon  Rosedale Shopping Center Keg and Case  St. Paul Worker B Mall of America   ONLINE Purchase skincare, varietal honeys, beeswax candles, supersoft teeshirts…

  [gallery columns="2" size="medium" ids="7138,7139"]   The Magnesium Muscle Scrub is great for sore bodies and for exfoliation. We have infused magnesium Epsom salts into our concentrated honey-lotion base for after workouts, tired feet and aching muscles. Doubled down with peppermint, the formula provides a cooling effect, while lavender works to relax you. Perfect for quick relief in the shower or longer soaks in the bathtub.   Ingredients: Pure Cane Sugar, Magnesium Chloride Brine, Demerara Sugar, Raw Honey, Organic Almond Oil, Organic Jojoba Oil, Oatmeal, Organic Rosehip Seed Oil, Ground Lavender, Organic Grapeseed Oil, Vitamin E Oil, Beeswax, Glycerin, Andiroba…