Mountain View Lodge #244 is very fortunate to be located on the main street of downtown Mountain View, Castro Street, where we put together different windows displays each month. Our August display honors the National Honey Bee Day which occurs on the third weekend in August. This display is a nod to our siblings, the Rebekkahs, as the beehive is one of their symbols.
When creating this month’s display, I was struck by the recent letter from our Grand Master that mentioned making our Lodges more attractive. We hope to use our window displays to encourage people to stop and look at and hopefully think about our organization.
Eleanor and Franklin, our resident mannequins have dressed as beekeepers and in front of them are various facts about bees – their benefits, their lifecycle, the difference between bees and similar creatures, lots of fun facts about bees and other useful information. The Bee display has gained a lot of traction. We saw passersby looking and sharing the bee facts with their friends. Many small handprints can be seen in the window!
Fun Facts
Þ A honeybee has to travel over 55,000 miles and visits approximately 2 million flowers to make 1 pound of honey.
Þ Honeybees are the only insect that produce food for humans.
Þ Honey is the ONLY food that includes all the substances necessary to sustain life, including water.
Þ Honey is the only form of sugar that does not need to be refined.
Þ Honeybees are a great scientific mystery because they have remained unchanged for 20 million years.
Þ A single honeybee will only produce approximately 1/12 teaspoon of honey in her lifetime.
Þ A worker bee visits between 50-100 flowers on each trip.
Þ Honeybees are the only bees that die after they sting.
Þ Honey is a natural antibiotic; it speeds the healing process and combats infections.
Þ Honey never spoils
— by Sinéad and Ria Toolis
