Don’t worry, ‘bee’ happy

It’s that time of year.

Spring is about to begin and the pollinating insects crucial to food production are already hard at work.

UF/IFAS says more than 300 native species of bees buzz in Florida, 29 of which are only found in the Sunshine State. Though these native pollinators play a crucial role in the state’s agricultural production, Florida’s honey industry, fueled by the non-native, naturalized honey bee, ranks in the top five in the nation.

Myron Beachy, president of the Nassau County Beekeepers Association, works year-round to manage his honey bee colonies.

Beachy said without the honey bees, the native bee species would keep up with pollinating, but they all have their preferences.

“One thing that fascinates me is in the years that I’ve had bees on our property, every single year, the things the bees work come back double the following year,” Beachy said. “Before I had bees here, there weren’t a lot of wildflowers … there was a handful around but not much and they all looked pretty pitiful.”

He said following the first year with bees on his property, everything had doubled.

“The bees worked. All the wildflowers started popping up everywhere because they were getting pollinated and going back to seed at a much more rapid pace,” Beachy said.

It’s clear when you attend one of Beachy’s mentoring sessions that there’s always more to be learned about honey bees. Members of the Nassau County Beekeepers Association, some who have kept bees for decades, still ask questions during the sessions.

Newbies can be heard asking questions to fellow association members while Beachy demonstrates beekeeping techniques. The association is a nonprofit that focuses on community outreach.

At the most recent mentoring session, Beachy created four nucleus colonies – also known as nucs in the beekeeping community – from the colonies the association keeps at the Northeast Florida Fairgrounds.

Beachy said if you split the colonies, you can avoid the bees swarming.

“Swarming isn’t necessarily a bad thing, it’s just how bees reproduce when they think things are really good; they’ve got a good nectar flow coming on. The bees will split themselves, all the flying bees and the old mother queen will leave the nest and fly out in a large group,” Beachy said.

“It’s kind of apocalyptic looking … tens of thousands of bees flying out and landing on a tree or some nearby object and then they’ll scout out a new location to live and colonize.”

He said swarming can be devastating to beekeepers’ honey production.

“If you’re a beekeeper and that happens to your colony, you’ve lost the majority of your bees and your queen that was doing a great job, there’s typically not enough bees left behind to do any kind of honey crop that year, so your year’s kind of shot,” he said.

Beachy said to avoid swarming, they do a “split” and take out some of the strength of the colony and that creates the nuc. The bees will quickly fill out a 10-frame box to create a full colony.

The honey bees Beachy manages for the association are just a few of the colonies he has his hands in. He said he manages around 100 colonies in total.

To learn more, follow the Nassau County Beekeepers Association on Facebook.

US/IFAS says the naturalized honey bees are native to Eurasia and pollinate one-third of the food we eat.

The extension program reports that nearly 5,000 beekeepers are registered in the state and manage about $630,000 colonies. The number of beekeepers in Nassau County is only going up.

Kiani Cook lives in Lofton Creek and is fairly new to beekeeping.

She has one colony located off U.S. 17.

Cook said aside from all the important work bees do out in nature, she appreciates the benefits the bees provide to her mental health the most.

She said beekeeping activities can have a positive impact on mental well-being, helping to reduce stress levels.

“The soothing hum of bees and the overall peaceful environment of a beehive can create a sense of calm and relaxation,” Cook said. “This can help alleviate stress and anxiety, providing therapeutic escape from the pressures of daily life.”

She said beekeeping offers beekeepers peace and tranquility.

“Beekeeping offers the opportunity for mindfulness and meditation. The focused attention required when working with bees and inspecting hives allows beekeepers to be fully present in the moment, promoting mental clarity and stress reduction,” Cook said.

Cook said for those who are new to honey bees to join a beekeepers association. She suggested the Nassau association or the Jacksonville association. She also referred new beekeepers to the UF/IFAS Honey Bee Research and Extension Laboratory, which stays up-to-date with online courses.

Beachy said there are many approaches to beekeeping.

“You can be as invasive or hands off as you want to be. It really depends on your goals.”

He said although you can attempt a more hands-off approach – don’t actively feed or harvest a lot of honey – it’s difficult to keep bees that way due to Varroa mites that were introduced around 30 years ago.

“They don’t actually kill the bees but they vector a lot of viruses, so the bees will just collapse under these viral pressures,” Beachy said.

He said the best way to manage a beehive is to go in about every 10 days, starting around this time of year, to make sure they have plenty of food, check that the queen is doing a good job and doesn’t need to be replaced.

“If you check in every 10 days, you’ll start to see when they’re doing swarm preparations.”

For more information on honey bees, visit UF/IFAS Honey Bee Research And Extension Lab at entnemdept.ufl.edu/honey-bee.

“There are so many way to manage bees, there is no right way to manage bees,” Beachy said. “I encourage everyone (who is interested in beekeeping) to find their local club and see what it’s like.”