Although we planned to visit Movie World today, fatigue got the better of me and I couldn’t get out of bed until 1100hrs local time. Hubby is kind enough to let me sleep on as he knows how deprived I am. We decided it’s too late to go to the theme parks so decided to make a trip to the honey farm instead.
After a short drive, we arrived at Currumbin, where Superbee Honeyworld (another ‘world’) is located. We signed up for the tour, which costs us $15 for 2 adults. KK got in free as he ‘appears young’. Peter, the beekeeper took us into a dark room. He switched on the lights and as we walked towards 2 glass panels, we saw millions of busy bees on the other side making honey.Now I understand how the term ‘busy bees’ comes about. It is not an understatement to say bees are the most hardworking living things in the world. They never sleep! And their mission in their short life (about 7 – 8 weeks) is to make and store honey, and to serve the queen bee.
Apparently, the bees have different levels of work. The juvenile ones start by making royal jelly for the queen to eat. Then they can progress to be ‘foragers’ – flying out to collect nectar. There are also the ‘guard bees’, guarding the hive’s entrance against invaders and outsiders. Guard bees are merciless – if a bee from another bee accidentally tries to fly in, she will be killed, no second chance. Then there are the ‘scent bees’. Their job – stay outside near the entrance, tilt their backsides and flap their wings. This sends a fragrance which serves as a guide for their fellow sister bees to identify as they fly home after collecting the nectar. The best job of all must be the ‘drones’. They are the male bees and their job is to have sex with the queen bee and help her breed. They don’t need to work. Sounds like some men we know?
The bees (or ‘the girls’ as Peter calls them affectionately) work incredibly fast. 24 hours and they would have built the base of their comb. After the comb is built, the bees deposit the nectar into each hexagonal hole and when the holes are filled, they will be capped and sealed with wax. When the whole comb is filled, they will be ‘robbed’ by the honey farmers. According to Peter, it is necessary to rob the hive. Otherwise, when there is no more room to store honey anymore, the whole hive will just leave to look for somewhere else to fill. You see, bees just CAN’T STOP WORKING! They are the ultimate workaholics!
In my view, bees are the most exploited workers in the world. They don’t get paid a salary, they have no holidays, no benefits and their food get stolen every few days! But they don’t complain and never strikes. Every employer’s dream workers ya?
Inside the room where they extract the honey, Peter scrapped the wax off a comb and we used our finger to taste the sweet golden liquid underneath. Hmm… lovely. Honey, we learnt, keeps incredibly well for 5000 years with no need for refrigeration (there’re no refrigerators inside honey combs.)
Peter personally testified the gospel of royal jelly, the stuff that queen bees only eat. He says he takes one capsule every morning since 3 years ago and it healed his arthritis and keeps his complexion good despite being 56 years old. He also shared how propolis (the protection against bacteria created by the bees for the queen to lay eggs) healed the skin cancer of a woman. Believe it or not!
We proceeded to have a late lunch at Surfer’s Paradise. We had spotted a few Korean restaurants last night. It is the kind of small scale, run by a Korean family setup that we like. I’ve always wondered why Singapore doesn’t have such shops. Singapore’s Korean restaurants are big expensive restaurants that charge you a bomb. While those at the food courts are not authentic enough. We enjoyed the food, just as we had at such Korean restaurants in Canada, New Zealand.
After lunch, it was off to Coles Supermarket for some grocery shopping. Believe it or not, we were already planning what to eat for dinner. The final selection: chorizo sausages (a coarse textured Spanish-style pork sausage flavoured with garlic and paprika), lettuce, tomatos, sautéed mushrooms with garlic and olive oil and warm oven-baked baguette). We bought a bottle of wine – Braided River Sauvignon Blanc 2006 for $14.90 – to go with the food. The result: an easy-to-cook and satisfying meal. Now KK and Hubby are out at the balcony, chit chatting and enjoying the cool air over a glass of wine (for Hubby) and apple/mixed berries juice (for KK). I’m going to join them now. This is life.
