Beerhives and Booze Bees
These are the structures made by the ‘booze bee,’ (Apis mellifera mirabilis) which is a new species of honey bee spreading through the southeastern United States and Caribbean. Beerhives are noteworthy mostly for the unique nature of their honeycombs, which are saturated with ethyl alcohol. About a pound of Beerhive honeycomb can be mixed with a gallon of water to produce an extremely tasty alcoholic beverage called ‘bee-beer’ (it’s even mildly carbonated). Strictly speaking, bee-beer isn’t actually beer, but not many people really care; and the ones that do care don’t really mind. It tastes great and has a nice kick to it, which is the important thing.