May. In June the bees work Blackberries, Raspberries, Black Locust, Indian paintbrush, Spurge, Etc. Around the beginning of July the Staghorn Sumac begins to bloom and fades into Basswood in the middle of July. By July 20th the main honey flow begins with the advent of the Star Thistle blossoming, inspiring clouds of honeybees to sally forth to sip the nectar. K irk and Sharon go south to Florida in the winter to raise honey bees for spring pollination and honey gathering in Michigan. Dave Nesky departs the frigid north every February and joins them to make hundreds of new hives as many of our hives do not survive the harsh winter climate of the north.
Parasitic mites attack the bees and brood and also contribute to losses each year.
Beekeepers constantly have to raise new bees to replace failing hives. T hese two cool guys are sitting on top of a semi-load of our honeybees that are about to embark on a late fall trip to Florida. We take our bees down around the Indian River area of central Florida by Titusville, extending east towards the St. John's River by Sanford. As the nectar and pollen are collected, the queen bees start to lay many eggs in preparation for the citrus bloom. By the middle of February or so, the hive populations will be sufficiently built up to take most of the bees out of each hive and fill up empty hives with two or more combs of bees and honey.