# Hello from Florida



## tecumseh (Apr 26, 2005)

Welcome aboard. You are in an excellent location for the bee and also a great place to learn about all the current problems in beekeeping. The good, the bad and the ugly all go hand in hand... don't ya' know?

Quite a long time ago (well actually only about 4 decades ago) I did a little bit of beekeeping (well actually quite a bit) just a bit east and slightly north of ya' around what was then a very rural town called Plant City.


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## DebCP (Apr 4, 2009)

Yes, we certainly have a lot of benefits of beekeeping here in Florida-and a lot of challenges. The whole africanized bee issue really makes things different-no more letting the hive create their own queen since you don't know if it is partly africanized. The small hive beetles have already been arriving so I'm sure the varoa isn't too far behind.

Looking forward to being able to be in contact with other beekeepers.

DebCP


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## BeeAware (Mar 24, 2007)

Hello and welcome to beekeeping! I have assisted several people in Florida with getting bees and equipment to start out with. All of them are doing OK, but had a few challenges with the SHB. Keep ahead of those beetles.


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## Fred Bee (May 5, 2007)

Welcome...I have family in the Tampa area. Nice to have you aboard. If you have any orange trees nearby, then I am jealous. We can't grow oranges here in TN to make orange blossom honey!  But we do ok with the clover and wildflowers. Good luck to you!


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## Jimmy Johnson (Feb 27, 2008)

*Bee Keepers in your area*

The Tampa Bay Beeleepers Association will be hosting a introduction to bee keeping seminar on May 16th at the Upper Tampa Bay Park in Oldsmar. They are a great group of people and have a wealth of knowledge and are more than willing to share their expierences. You can get more information on their web site. Good Luck with your new hobby!


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## DebCP (Apr 4, 2009)

*Thanks for the welcome*

Hi Guys,

Thanks for the friendly welcome! Our bees are doing great so far and I'll be excited to eventually get some local honey from my own backyard. About the small hive beetles-yes, I all ready have gotten the AJ's Beetle eaters in place, have put my hives in full sun and just got my first shipment of the beneficial nematodes that specifically feed on the small hive beatle larvae when they go to pupate (will be curious to see how this works out).

I am in touch with the beekeepers association in the Sarasota-Bradenton but might try to get up to the Tampa Bay Associations education day. Some of members of our club are members there as well and have also highly recommended it. So, if time permits I'll be there (working full time and finishing my bachelor's degree part time has me pretty busy).

DebCP


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## mgmoore7 (Jul 6, 2007)

Welcome. I live in Land O Lakes and work in Brandon. 

I also encourage you to check out the next Tampa Bay association meeting. 

Don't let the Africanized issue scare you too much. Use caution and common sense but if you go queenless, go ahead and let them raise a queen until you can get one. 

I the two years I have been keeping bees, my 2 primary issues are keeping them from swarming just before the flow and getting queens when I need them. The swarming issue I have yet to conquer. The queen issue I am taking steps to solve. I am going to start making my own queens, Africanized or not. If I start with a good queen mated up north.... then there are many managed hives in withing drone distance of my hives, my odds should be pretty good. If one is agressive, off with her head and try another. The point is that if I have queens, I have options. If I have to purchase and wait on other providers, the options are much less and the cost is prohibitive. 

I also have a garden in my back yard. We have a bunch of earthboxes and hydrostackers. 

Let me know if I can be of any help to you.


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## DebCP (Apr 4, 2009)

*Thanks*

Thanks for the extra information. 

Matt, we use one earthbox, the rest of our garden is all all earth box substitutes made from three to five gallon buckets (we get for free from publix)...they work great and don't cost us anything. The best thing is they are all on a drip watering system so minimal hassles too.

DebCP


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## mgmoore7 (Jul 6, 2007)

DebCP said:


> Thanks for the extra information.
> 
> Matt, we use one earthbox, the rest of our garden is all all earth box substitutes made from three to five gallon buckets (we get for free from publix)...they work great and don't cost us anything. The best thing is they are all on a drip watering system so minimal hassles too.
> 
> DebCP


I made 3 homemade EBs this year with buckets. 2 buckets stacked inside of each other creates a water resevoir. If you want details on how I built them, let me know. So far so good. The resevoir may not be big enough though for a whole day at peak depending on what is planted in them.


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## terri lynn (Apr 5, 2009)

What are earthboxes? I've never heard that term. Is it for gardening or bees?


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## DebCP (Apr 4, 2009)

*Hello*

Hi Terri,

No earthboxes are for containerized gardening. Very easy and almost no weeding. Although my bees do appear to prefer to drink out of the weep holes from my earthboxes as opposed to the lovely pond we built for them.

Here's a pic of my hives and the pond:










Here's my garden which the bees are happy to provide pollination for:










DebCP

p.s. If you would like instructions on how to make the homemade (i.e. free) verson private message me and I'll send you the info


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## mgmoore7 (Jul 6, 2007)

terri lynn said:


> What are earthboxes? I've never heard that term. Is it for gardening or bees?


http://www.earthboxes.com

I have nine of them. They are great for home vegi gardening and there are some that use them commercially as well.


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## terri lynn (Apr 5, 2009)

Hey Deb,

Loved the pond! What's wrong with those bees not liking their paradise? I'd seen plenty of raised bed and container options but not one like that. I'll PM you when I can figure out how! Thus far, I've answered when someone sent me one, but thats it! I'm not used to being on this type of forum - obviously!

Terri


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## terri lynn (Apr 5, 2009)

Just figured it out!


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## pascopol (Apr 23, 2009)

Jimmy Johnson said:


> The Tampa Bay Beeleepers Association will be hosting a introduction to bee keeping seminar on May 16th at the Upper Tampa Bay Park in Oldsmar. They are a great group of people and have a wealth of knowledge and are more than willing to share their expierences. You can get more information on their web site. Good Luck with your new hobby!


Could you post time and exact location?

I went on their website, but it is not fully functional yet, emailed some people from the webside, all emails bounced.


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## DebCP (Apr 4, 2009)

*Tampa Bay Beekeeprs info:*

Was able to pull this up for you, hope it helps-sounds great:
WHEN: Saturday, May 16th Time: 9:00 a.m. to 3:30 p.m.
WHERE: Upper Tampa Bay Park
8001 Double Branch Rd Tampa, FL 33635
TOPICS: Everything a beginning beekeeper
needs to know including:
Hive Construction, Starting a Hive,
Honey extraction, Bee transport,
Queen Bee’s, Nectar Sources,
Wax Rendering, Apitherapy,
Looking inside the Hive, and more!
DOOR PRIZES!!!
REGISTRATION: (Includes seminar and lunch)
$20.00 -- before May 8, 2009
$25.00 – day of seminar
$5.00 each additional person
FOR MORE INFORMATION CALL: 727-391-5390 or 863-286-2117 or visit www.tampabaybeekeepers.com


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