September Newsletter: Fall Hours and Events, Swarms, and Storms.

Hi Everyone! Jess here. The bees have been keeping us busy. We have much to cover, and October will likely have more than one newsletter to get everyone caught up.

Fall Store Hours and Events:

Sarasota Honey Company joined the family of artists at  Bazaar on Apricot and Lime in May. We feel that this strategic move has been a positive one. Our young adults with special needs are thriving in the new environment. The only complaint is that the hours are difficult for the working class and families. Some have suggested that families and the working class can come on Saturdays. The counter-statement is that the weekends can be hectic for some families. We have heard from both sides of the table and have decided to expand our space at the Bazaar by renting additional space. Starting mid-October,  Sarasota Honey Company customers can visit us from 10 am to 5:30pm Wednesday- Friday. Saturday, 10-3pm. We will have a separate space accessed from the courtyard that will be opened when the Bazaar is not typically open. We are calling it "Sarasota Honey Company…After Hours."  

Fall Special Events:

Our beekeeping tours, honey tastings, and cooking demonstrations on Fridays at the Bazaar are not just about tasting delicious honey-based recipes. They're an opportunity to learn about the fascinating world of bees and honey production. The cooking demos, part of our 'What's Cookin' Honey!' video series, will cover simple recipes with a variety of our honey and our Old Florida products. Attendees will get to sample the recipes and learn about the ingredients. It's a chance to deepen your understanding of the honey you love.

 Additionally, we are expanding our partnerships with other small businesses to bring traditional English High and Afternoon Tea back by popular demand. We are talking china, lace, centerpieces, delicious finger sandwiches, fruit, pastries, and specialized honey tasting. Big hats are highly encouraged. You will also get the chance to learn about bees and craft resin gifts and mementos with Drift Theory. Drift Theory is Sarasota's premier resin company, which makes handcrafted jewelry and decor inspired by real locations on the Gulf Coast.

Swarms and Honeybee Relocations: It is swarm season, so I thought I would answer some common questions about swarms and relocations. Let's start with what is a swarm:

A true swarm is a ball of bees the size of a tennis ball to the size of a basketball.  A homeowner may be shocked to see a ball of bees suddenly appear on the soffit of their home, in some bushes, on the side of a fence, or on a tree branch. This is because a swarm may contain several hundred to several thousand bees, and people are afraid of getting stung or perceive it as a very dangerous situation. However, people do not need to be frightened by bee swarms because the bees are technically homeless at this stage of their lives. The swarm location is a temporary rest stop as they scout out a new place to call home.  Until they have a new hive home, they are not very aggressive. However, This does not mean bees will not sting if provoked. They are just much less likely to sting.  Moreover, before they swarmed from their previous hive they engorged themselves with honey because they didn't know how long it would be until they find their next home.

Alma often uses the analogy: Imagine being out of town after a big Thanksgiving dinner and about to stay at a hotel. Would you defend that hotel room with no personal belongings in it as you would if it were your house?  

Why do bees swarm:

Swarming bees are actually non-threatening, and their behavior is a natural means for bees to reproduce. Bees also swarm when they have outgrown their hive structure due to the increased number of bees. Much like a hermit crab outgrew its shell and had to look for a larger shell. Swarms can occur at any time throughout the year, but most often in late spring and early fall in central and south Florida. Typically swarms happen when a new queen is made in a colony. The new queen's mother leaves the original colony and takes a large group of worker bees to find a new home. 

These bees all fly off as a group and cluster on a tree limb, a shrub, or even on a car's side mirror. They will remain there for an hour to a few days. During that time, scouting bees search for a new nest site.  When a suitable location for the new colony is found, such as a hollow tree, the cluster breaks up and flies to it. Swarms usually coincide either right before or during a "honey flow."  

What is a "honey flow"? A honey flow is defined as a period when there is an abundance of a particular type of flower, which creates an abundance of nectar, enabling the bees to make an abundance of HONEY!!! This is why the bees need a larger home.

What should I do if a fall swarm is on my property?

So, no action is required when a honey bee swarm is found on a tree, shrub, or house awning. The bees should usually leave within a week; this is just a rest stop. They may stay longer if it rains because it's hard to scout out new "real estate" in the rain. Patiently ignore them. Once the bees have relocated, remove the branch and replace the part of the soffit where the swarm was located. The swarm location has been marked with a pheromone, identifying it as an "official honey bee rest spot." The swarm site will attract future swarms to rest on the location. We caught 17 swarms off on ONE "swarm" branch in one year!

What about free honeybee relocation?

Seasoned beekeepers are usually reluctant to go collect swarms because, more than 80% of the time, the bees are gone when the beekeeper gets to the location. The time spent coordinating, planning, and packing a vehicle, driving to the location, and only finding the bees are gone upon arriving is disappointing. Time is often wasted. Swarms are usually feral. Beekeepers manipulate their hives so they do NOT swarm.  

On the other hand, a beekeeper may go through a full day of work, collect a swarm, and pour the bees into a newly set bee box only to see the swarm fly away! Again, time wasted. It's like trying to make a feral cat into a house cat within a few minutes…most times, it doesn't work. 

The other concern is diseases or pests associated with feral hives. Just as introducing a feral cat to your healthy house cats wouldn't be a good idea, it is the same for backyard beekeepers. Fortunately, a feral cat can get a clean bill of health or treatment for a clean bill of health by a veterinarian.  Unfortunately, there is not a bee veterinarian.

For beekeepers, it is believed to be best practice to isolate the feral hive and re-queen the hive on another property for 3 months or until it is determined that it is safe to introduce the hive to the main bee yard. It is Florida state law that swarms must be re-queened. New queens sell for a minimum of $50. The out-of-pocket cost for the beekeeper is easy: $350 ($50 for a queen and $300 for the woodware to house the hive). This cost does not include the beekeeper's time, labor, mileage, and cost of relocation supplies/materials. 

Storms:

The summer evening showers have been excellent for producing bees and honey. However, our "honey bank" is still empty. We are praying to have a honey surplus to start squireling away some honey into our honey bank for future times of low honey supply. Over 10 years, we have added surplus honey to our honey bank. We were slowly tapping into it then quickly draining the honey bank after Ian and the non-existent rainy season of 2023. The 2024 orange blossom harvest was a flop due to a lack of rain in the spring and a lack of blooms in the groves. The new young trees that replaced with those damaged by Hurricane Ian are still too small to produce the blooms needed for a proper "honey flow."

Due to the move of our store to the Bazaar and those of you who sponsored a hive or part of a hive, we were able to purchase new boxes for ALL our beehives! We hired a local veteran and some of his friends to paint the boxes to get them ready for the present and coming honey flow. Just as we were going to put the bees into their new boxes, Helene was forecasted. When there is a threat of a major storm, it is advised not to open the boxes and crack their propolis seal. We have had a four beehive box high hive thrown 15 feet by a tornado, laying on its side…still intact!

When the propolis seals are broken, the hive is vulnerable, and the boxes can be blown and easily torn apart, killing the hive. We hope to get the bees into their new boxes as soon as possible. We hope Helene or any other storm doesn't ruin our largest honey flow like Ian did. Large storms can shock the trees and destroy the blooms. Remember, it takes 2 million blooms to make ONE lb of honey!  

What is propolis?

Bees will have a variety of "jobs" throughout their life cycle. Some are tasked with collecting tree and plant resin needed to make propolis. As workers collect it, they mix it with wax secreted from wax glands. They then knead this into a small ball and collect it in the pollen basket. After propolis has been transported back from the source, it is transferred to a house bee (another bee profession). It is then deployed around the hive as needed. The Bees use propolis to bind the hive. It helps the structural integrity of the hive and has some fascinating properties. However, it is not merely a glue. Propolis has anti-septic, anti-fungal, anti-biotic, anti-bacterial, anti-viral, and anti-microbial properties that keep the hive healthy. Propolis is also used as an immune system supplement and in pharmaceutical drugs.

Storm Shout out to the Sarasota Honey Company Leadership Team: Alma, Glenn, and Kelly.

A lot can be said about the commitment and sense of responsibility of the SHC leadership team. Once Helene came on the radar, and the cone showed from Tampa to the Panhandle. Our leadership team was on alert. Then, when the size of the storm was presented. All the hurricane prep went into action to secure our hives, chickens, and other livestock. If we waited, if the storm shifted not to our favor, there would not be enough time to do all that was needed to secure livestock and property.  The team also made the difficult and time-consuming decision to break down and remove all the motors and electrical parts of all our extensive honey harvesting and processing equipment to be put into a trailer and transported across the state to safer grounds. I asked, "Don't you guys think this is overkill?"  They brought to my attention that we were on the dirty side and that Ian's cone looked much like Helene's cone, and look at where Ian hit. But what touched me was when they said, "There is no percentage of a gamble that we are willing to take when it comes to protecting our livelihood and the livelihoods of the families of those that work for us. There is no place here for the shoulda, woulda, and coulda.  We have been blessed and entrusted to be responsible for far more than just ourselves. Acts 20:28 (Alma's way of getting me to read the bible! Lol)  We would rather be safe than sorry."  That said, once the trailer was loaded, Alma drove off. Glenn and Kelly stayed behind to finish securing structures for wind/flood and to oversee the safety of our hives and other livestock. Ready to act as needed.