5 Small Hive Beetles (SHB) are looking for weak honey
bee colonies all year round.
6 There are nectar and pollen resources available in
small quantities throughout the year. Honey bees can
easily starve to death in Florida because there are
always some resources but never enough naturally to
sustain brood rearing. One cold spell and mass brood
death follows.
These are the stresses of keeping honey bees in Florida.
There is no winter yet we have a winter bee. We have
some pollen and nectar year round but not enough.
Varroa, SHB, Tracheal mites, Nosema and fungal and
bacterial diseases are a constant, consistent pressure.
Orange blossom is one of the main forage plants for bees FORAGE AVAILABILITY
during the short spring flowering period
We do have a short ‘spring’ flowering time in January and
a temperate environment with four distinct seasons. February with citrus as the primary forage but also
Biologically, EHB are always preparing for winter. That is Gallberry, palmetto, Brazilian pepper and other minor
why they developed the propensity to store so much sources, but then it is over. Then we have summer which
honey for winter fuel which in turn became a harvestable is hot, humid and intense. Most plants stop blooming
bounty for man. These simply are not necessary traits to because of this extreme and honey bees limp along.
survive successfully in a tropical or sub-tropical climate. With lots of artificial feeding of sugar syrup and protein
Managing a temperately adapted honey bee in a substitutes, migratory beekeepers come to Florida to split,
tropical/sub-tropical climate as found in Florida is actually split, split their remaining colonies to make up losses
very difficult. We know what the management goals are from the previous migratory year. Then it is off to
for preparing honey bees to get through a long cold California for almond pollination in February or to follow
winter, but we do not have a tradition of or experience in spring as it inches northward for honey crops or paid
developing a ‘to do’ list for European beekeeping in warm pollination, or both. Multiple consistent honey crops can
climates. be made in Florida if you can move bees around the State
OBSTACLES for different blooms. There are not enough resources for
stationary beekeeping with too many colonies.Let me attempt to list the obstacles we have in Florida
that make our job tougher with a European honey bee in EXCELLENCE
a tropical area:
If someone can keep bees successfully in Florida then1 This is not a temperate climate. There are few
they are an excellent, excellent beekeeper because it isenvironmental cues for the bees such as day length or
consistent temperature reductions that signal how to hard with the model and the insect we are using. If it was
respond physiologically. easy, everybody would be doing it – and they are not. n
2 There are no sustained sub-freezing temperatures for
weeks or months. Storing lots of honey is not Come to Florida to work on your tan but beware if you
necessary for the honey bees’ survival and there is no think it is Beekeeping Nirvana!
need for temperature regulation by clustering.
3 Brood rearing in small quantities is underway virtually
throughout what are considered northern hemisphere
‘winter’ months.
4 The majority of honey bee diseases are linked to
honey bee larval and pupal stages. Brood rearing
keeps honey bees’ parasites and diseases active
24/7, 365 days of the year. AFB, EFB, chalkbrood, sac
brood, Varroa and Nosema are found at all times of
the year.
Bee Craft America January 2009 Page 25
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