Honey

By Kumiko Takahashi

Honey is a sweet and viscous fluid produced by honey bees and derived from the nectar of flowers. Honey bees are the only insects which can produce food for humans. To make one pound of honey, the worker bees must collect floral nectar from millions of flowers. Honey is a natural sweetener made by those hard workers.

Worker bees make honey in their honeycomb. (Photo © 2008 Michele Bourdieu)

According to the article "Honey" on Wikipedia, honey tastes sweet, but that isn’t all. It has many kinds of taste, color, flavor, and ingredients, which are made from the varieties of flowers. For instance, the honey of buckwheat contains much Iron and has a strong scent. Or the honey of clover has a strong scent and is really sweet. It is the most popular honey in the U.S. Therefore, we can enjoy the differences in various types of honey, using it not only for hot tea but also for biscuits or cornbreads ("Honey").

Kumiko, third from right, the author of this research essay -- along with Toshi, right, and Nick -- learns about the honey-making process from beekeeper Gustavo Bourdieu during a field trip to Gustavo's beehives in August 2008. (Photo © 2008 Michele Bourdieu)

In the article "Honey summary," by the Japan Association of Honey Bee, honey has been used and eaten by humans for about four thousand years and there are some reasons for it. First, honey is really good at preservation. It is said that honey won’t spoil. We can preserve it at room temperature. Next, honey is a food that is easy to digest, because it is made up of monosaccharide. This means honey doesn’t need to be resolved any more. In addition, it is a disinfectant by itself. We can use honey to sterilize, and it also can be a medicine for canker sores ("Honey summary").

Worker bees store the honey in the tiny, individual cells of the honeycomb. Click on photo for larger version. (Photo © 2008 Gustavo Bourdieu)

The National Headache Foundation (NHF) recently published research indicating that honey can relieve a headache from a hangover. They say, "Some of ingredients of honey can resolve alcohol. The most effective way to relieve the headache from hangover is taking honey." According to this research honey can relieve your headache easily and quickly ("Hangover Headache").

In conclusion, our life is supported by little insects’ products. Instead of feeling scared of them, we should appreciate their work. We should be aware of how useful honey is -- it tastes good, smells good and also is good for our health.

While touring Gustavo's garden near the beehives, Kumiko gets a hug from Antonio, the scarecrow, who may need some honey for his hangover! (Photo © 2008 Michele Bourdieu)

Alhough honey can relieve a hangover, what is more important is this: to avoid drinking too much alcohol and to enjoy tasting honey.

Works Cited

"Hangover Headache." National Headache Foundation. National Headache Foundation. 2007. 15 Dec, 2006. September 14, 2008.
< http://www.headaches.org/press/NHF_Press_Releases/2007-12-Tips_to_Ease_Holiday_Overindulgence>

"Honey." Wikipedia the free encyclopedia. 2004. November 18th 2007. September 13, 2008.
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Honey>

"Honey Summary." Japan Association of honey bee. Japan Association of Honey Bee. 2003. 30 April, 2008. September 13, 2008.
< http://bee.lin.go.jp/index.html>

The Society of Bees

By Kazuki Nishiyama

I started to be interested in bees after I had been to an apiculture place on a field trip for Michele’s class. I like honey but I didn’t know anything about bees. So, I looked up bees and found an interesting convention in their life.

Kazuki, second from left, author of this research essay -- along with Toshi, left, and Moto -- learns about bees in their honeycomb from Gustavo Bourdieu, beekeeper, during a class field trip in August 2008. Click on photos for larger versions. (Photo © 2008 Michele Bourdieu)

First of all, bees have a society like men have in their nest which is called a hive. A hive is like a kingdom for bees. According to the author of "Beepedia," there are three kinds of bees in a society. One is a queen bee who keeps giving birth to the eggs of bees. Only one queen bee exists in one hive. The queen is ranked by the place in which she is laid by chance. Since she eats royal jelly, which other bees make, her size is three times as big as the other bees; and her life is thirty times as long as the other bees’ life span. She usually lives about six years.

Students, from right, Toshi, Nick and Kumiko get a close-up view of a queen bee from one of Gustavo's hives. (Photo © 2008 Michele Bourdieu)

Next, worker bees, who collect nectar for their hive, can number about a thousand in a hive. They all are female and their life span is about a month. On the other hand, male bees, the last category, can number only a few in a hive. They don’t work unlike worker bees and just keep eating honey which worker bees produce. It is said that they resemble a human father who doesn’t work and just sleeps in the house ("Beepedia").

It is interesting that a bee’s society and its rule are like a human’s. Male bees usually fight each other for copulation with the queen bee because their only job is to copulate with the queen bee. Some of them die from the fighting. But, unfortunately, if a male bee wins and he can copulate, he has to die anyway. With a male bee’s mechanism, when they copulate, their internal organs fall and they die. Moreover, other male bees are kicked out as scoundrels by the worker bees. Male bees don’t know how to get their food outside of the hive, and they die finally. "A person who doesn’t work must not eat." This is a same rule as ours.

On the other hand, like male bees that got kicked out of the hive, a queen bee also often gets kicked out of the hive. If she gets hurt or old, and she can’t lay eggs, she gets kicked out immediately as a useless bee. Of course, she doesn’t know how to get food (she has never been outside), so she has to die of hunger ("Beepedia"). She seems to resemble a human queen who has been brought up very carefully in a certain country and doesn’t know how to buy and cook food.

Gustavo explains the worker bees' process of storing nectar in the honeycomb to Nick and Toshi. (Photo © 2008 Michele Bourdieu)

Worker bees are like citizens in man’s society. Cooperating with one another, they work every day and collect nectar for their hive. According to Wenner, their means of communication for nectar is more developed and more precise than ours. When a worker bee finds a source of nectar, she just dances to transmit the source and the quality of the nectar to others. And, the others dance in same way for other bees. They transmit lots of information to others mmediately by just dancing and flapping of wings (Wenner).

There is a Japanese proverb: "The history of bees is the history of the human race." If we exploit their honey, we have to keep an environment in which bees can live.

Works Cited

"Beepedia." Cornwall Honey.co.uk. Web. 15 Sept., 2008.

< http://www.cornwallhoney.co.uk/bees.htm >

Wenner, Adrian M. "Sound Communication in Honeybees." BEE SOURCE .COM. Web. 15 Sept., 2008.
<http://beesource.com/pov/wenner/sci1964.htm>

ESL students visit Houghton County Fair

Photos by Michele and Gustavo Bourdieu:

HANCOCK -- Our first excursion in the community this Fall 2008 semester was a trip to the Houghton County Fair. Here are some photo memories ...

Finlandia students, from left, Kazuki, Kumiko and Nick emerge from a ride through the Haunted House at the Houghton County Fair Aug. 23, 2008, in Hancock. Click on photos for larger versions. (Photos © 2008 Michele and Gustavo Bourdieu)

A highlight of the visit to the Fair was having a photo taken with Amber, the Queen of the Fair.

State Representative Mike Lahti, who purchased a prize lamb during the 4-H livestock auction at the fair, poses with Finlandia students Kazuki, Kumiko and Nick.

This rooster attracted everyone's attention with his noise ...

... while this pair of prize winners had a great siesta during the Fair!

Photos by Kumiko:

Work horses strain at the weight in the horse pull event. (Photos © 2008 Kumiko Takahashi)

More horses ...

and Raisin, the photogenic cow.

Tempting pizza!


That Super Slide looks like fun ...

Nick, why don't you try it?

Memories: The Sushi Lunch

Photos and text by Michele Bourdieu

Welcome back, students! Here are some photos that may bring back a memory of last semester -- the delicious sushi lunch you prepared for us in February 2008. Finlandia instructor Suzanne VanDam generously offered her kitchen and dining room for the occasion.

Three cooks, from left, Daniel, Toshi and Kazuki prepare some cucumbers for the sushi. (Click on photos for larger versions.)

Nick, Gustavo and Kana check on the rice cooking.

Kumiko and Cassie are proud of their Japanese omelette!

Kumiko prepares to demonstrate for Cassie and Suzanne how sushi is rolled with the little mat.

And here's how it's done ...

Cassie gives it a try.

More cooks get into the sushi making.

Toshi, Kana and Kazuki add their contributions.

Here's the whole crew, ready for the feast!

Finlandia students participate in MTU's indoor soccer tournament

By Toshi Mita

HOUGHTON, MI -- Daniel and I participated for a month in the Spring 2008 Michigan Tech University indoor soccer tournament, which included a variety of teams. At first the program started with a group league; after that, more great teams competed in the group league. Finally, only good grade teams matched in the semi-final and final games of the tournament.

Toshi, back row, left, poses with his soccer teammates in the MTU gym: back row, from left, Ankha (Mongolia), Annie (U.S.A.), Diego (Argentina) and front row, from left, a friend from China, Brian (U.S.A.), Juan (Colombia), and Daniel (Panama).

They had Divisions A, B, and C. I was a member of the international team in Division A, which was the best of the three divisions. A lot of teams participated in the tournament. My team had players from a variety of countries. For example, there were Chinese, Mongolian, Colombian, Argentine, American, Panamanian and Japanese players.

Some of Toshi's Finlandia friends came to the MTU gym to cheer for the team. Pictured with him here are, from left, Brittany, Sami, and Samantha. (Photos courtesy Toshi Mita)

At first it was very hard for me to play soccer with them, because their languages were different. Moreover, I couldn’t speak English very well. So I tried to talk to them with only soccer terms. The biggest problem was that everyone’s thinking was different. I thought that play didn’t go the way I wanted it to; however, time solved the problem. As we continued to play soccer together, our play went more smoothly. I thought that it was especially good in the semi-finals and finals, because we wanted seriously to be a champion team.

Finally, we became a champion of the Division-A!! It was a very good opportunity to see everybody, to speak English, and to make many friends. I won’t forget the memory. I’m happy still now!!

ESL students attend MTU Earth Week event with author Katie Alvord

By Michele Bourdieu, ESL Reading Instructor

HOUGHTON -- After reading prize-winning author Katie Alvord's articles on climate change published on Keweenaw Now, Finlandia's ESL students attended researcher Rolf Peterson's Earth Week presentation at Michigan Tech University and met with Katie afterwards for a discussion.

Peterson spoke about his work with the Wolf-Moose Study on Isle Royale, which is one of the topics included in Katie Alvord's articles on the effects of global warming in the Lake Superior Basin.

Rolf Peterson, Michigan Tech University professor and renowned researcher, gives a slide presentation and talk on his Isle Royale Wolf-Moose study during MTU's 2008 Earth Week celebration in March. Finlandia ESL students attended the presentation. Click on photo for larger version. (Photo by Michele Bourdieu)

In addition to reading about climate change, students had also discussed this and other environmental topics in their conversation class with Finlandia instructor, Suzanne Van Dam, who drove the group to MTU in a Finlandia van. After the talk, author Katie Alvord met with the students and their instructors for an informal discussion at the Library Restaurant in Houghton.

Pictured here during their discussion with prize-winning author Katie Alvord, third from left, and Instructor Suzanne Van Dam, fifth from left, are ESL students, from left, Daniel Rodriguez, Toshi Mita, Takaaki Niikura (Nick), Kumiko Takahashi, Kana Ito and Kazuki Nishiyama. Click on photo for larger version. (Photo by Michele Bourdieu)

The students all asked thoughtful questions, and Katie even rode back to Hancock in the van with them to continue the discussion.

Katie Alvord, the author of Divorce Your Car! Ending the Love Affair with the Automobile, is among the winners of the 2007 American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS) Journalism Awards. She received her award ($3000 and a plaque from AAAS) in the category of online journalism. Her articles can be accessed from the links on the archived Keweenaw Now Web site. Visit her blog at http://katiealvord.blogspot.com.

Congratulations to 2008 graduates!

HANCOCK -- Four Japanese students were among the 123 Finlandia students who received diplomas during the Class of 2008 Commencement exercises at Finlandia University Apr. 27, 2008.

Finlandia ESL Blog sends congratulations to the following students: Taichiro Ishizaka, B.B.A. (International Business); Rei Kuroyanagi, A.A.S. (General Studies); Maiko Ota, A.A.S. (General Studies); and Sho Onoda, A.A.S. (General Studies). Good luck to all of you in your future studies and careers!

Editor's note to our readers: If anyone has a photo of these 4 students at graduation, we will be glad to post it. Please email it to andersm2@sbcglobal.net and include a caption identifying the students with their names, and, if possible, their home towns in Japan.