Sam's Honey Bees

Sam's Honey Bees Beekeeper & retired veteran selling local honey from Ruskin & Lithia apiaries. Provides presentations or hands-on experience. Limited removals.

Apiaries: Circle Pond Tiny Community; Prakriti Farms; Seeds of Faith Community Garden and Lithia Springs Farm

06/01/2026

Love is in the air.

On 26 May I presented a bee talk to the MiraBay "Girls" Group. This was a really great group that really liked to laugh...
06/01/2026

On 26 May I presented a bee talk to the MiraBay "Girls" Group. This was a really great group that really liked to laugh and have a good time.

My first contact with the group spokesperson was defiantly hilarious, when asked if I could talk to a group of girls about honeybees. I assumed we talking school age, Girls Scouts or similar, I asked about ages and how many, so I'd bring enough bee finger puppets and coloring books. The answer--about 15 of us, spanning 45 to over 70 for ages. We had a good chuckle and I left the coloring books at home.

I presented a short PowerPoint presentation and did a show and tell on the equipment.

The pictures have captions

Sam's Honey Bees

In the Best Envelope Artwork Ever Category . . . . .Background, once or twice a month I deliver honey, mainly to Waterse...
05/27/2026

In the Best Envelope Artwork Ever Category . . . . .

Background, once or twice a month I deliver honey, mainly to Waterset addresses or meet points close to my apiaries. My regular customers place payment under their front doormat, I deliver the honey, and pick up the honey money. The money is normally placed in plain envelopes or sandwich bags and sometimes the envelopes include messages or a child's drawing.

Yesterday I picked up this envelope, it was a little damp, but the artwork was really fun, well done, and merited recognition.

Sam's Honey Bees

Another customer using my 2 Oz Honey Bears for a Baby Shower favor. Congratulations and what a sweet start!
05/24/2026

Another customer using my 2 Oz Honey Bears for a Baby Shower favor. Congratulations and what a sweet start!

In the not quite yet famous category, Libby Hopkins-Journalist with "In The Field Magazine, Hillsborough Edition" wrote ...
05/20/2026

In the not quite yet famous category, Libby Hopkins-Journalist with "In The Field Magazine, Hillsborough Edition" wrote an article about Sam's Honeybees. I'm proud they selected Sam's Honeybees and appreciate the nice story. Direct link to the story: https://www.flipsnack.com/B757BADD75E/in-the-field-magazine-hillsborough-edition-ztpshk7wb1/full-view.html?p=34

If you want to know more about this great magazine and read some of their other articles visit their page: In The Field Magazine or website: https://www.inthefieldmagazine.com/hillsborough/hillsborough-may-2026-june-2026/

Sam's Honey Bees

In late March 2026 I was called by an Apollo Beach homeowner for honeybees that moved under a propane hatch. It was a t...
05/11/2026

In late March 2026 I was called by an Apollo Beach homeowner for honeybees that moved under a propane hatch. It was a tiny swarm with limited comb and at risk (limited population and food). As usual I cut out the comb, rubber banded the comb to frames, and placed the frames into a beehive. I sealed up the hatch lid (so the bees couldn't get back in) and put the hive on top of the hatch for a couple of days and picked up the hive the second night. They are doing well, but will require special help until the hive is stronger, I boosted their population by giving them brood (unhatched bees) from one of my other hives.

The pictures have captions explaining the action.

Sam's Honey Bees

21 May 2026 Update--Pollen is now available!In the near future I'm going to start offering local Pollen. I've ordered th...
05/11/2026

21 May 2026 Update--Pollen is now available!

In the near future I'm going to start offering local Pollen. I've ordered the jar labels and the projected price is $15 for six ounces.

I'm frequently asked for bee products that I don't produce or collect in volume like pollen, propolis, wax, royal jelly, comb honey, and now and then--venom.

I'll always have my usual honey with limited amounts of wax and pollen. I haven't produced any comb honey this year because of the hard freeze followed by the current drought (bees are producing less).

Sam's Honey Bees

When you're outside working bees a few times a week, you get to see or meet the local wildlife. One of my favorite crit...
05/11/2026

When you're outside working bees a few times a week, you get to see or meet the local wildlife. One of my favorite critters to watch is the Gofer Turtle. When driving up to perform hive maintenance, I always watch for them to make sure we don't have a turtle/truck incident.

At two locations, my work is also observed by friendly cattle.

The pictures have captions explaining the action.

Sam's Honey Bees

In early March 2026, I was called by a Riverview homeowner about a beehive that had moved into a large Earth-Box planter...
05/07/2026

In early March 2026, I was called by a Riverview homeowner about a beehive that had moved into a large Earth-Box planter. The homeowner was stung a couple of times working in the adjoining garden. In some of the videos you’ll hear the homeowner talking to me, he was inside a screened lanai.

The planter was empty, upside down, making it a perfect cavity/home for honeybees. The bees had filled every square inch of the planter’s space with comb, brood, and honey. This swarm was probably casting new swarms due to the lack of space.

After lifting the planter, I went to work by individually removing each layer of comb, the comb was trimmed to fit the frames, then rubber banded to the frames and the frames put into the NUC (small beehive). I saved all the brood, clean honey, and pollen, by trimming off the old, dirty, dark comb. After removing the bees and comb, the planter was moved away, turned right side up and partially filled with water to repel current or future bees.

After finishing the bee removal I leave the NUC in place for two days to let the bees settle in. On the second day I came back to recover the hive after dark when the bees are inside the box for the night. I quickly seal them up and drive them over to the apiary and reopen the entrance.

The pictures and videos have captions explaining the action.

Sam's Honey Bees

Recently I visited a neat school in Ruskin called the Ayni Learning to do a kids bee talk. The kids turned out to be gr...
05/05/2026

Recently I visited a neat school in Ruskin called the Ayni Learning to do a kids bee talk. The kids turned out to be great listeners and participants, they had tons of questions and had a great time. I understand Ayni provides tutoring, homeschool enrichment, supplemental homeschooling group activities and much more (like visiting beekeepers).

The pictures have captions explaining the action.

Sam's Honey Bees

Address

Creek Ridge Preserve
Lithia, FL
33547

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