Queen of the Castle Apiculture

03/04/2026

The first bite of a strawberry is measurably better (sweeter).

One-way to "fix" low sugar (brix) levels is to dip the berries in some fresh, local honey.

We have honey available. DM to arrange pickup.

01/03/2026

Winter is a time of rest for the bees but for the beekeeper it's a time to prepare for the coming season. This means building and painting boxes, assembling frames and building new hive stands.

11/17/2025

When we pull honey, we use a little hand held device called a refractometer to measure the moisture content. Our goal is to get honey that is 18.5% or less.

This tasty batch of honey we pulled from Brandon today is 17.5%.

11/08/2025

Had a nice time at the Florida State Beekeepers Association annual conference. Submitted some honey into the judging contest and got a 3rd place ribbon. Listened to a lot of interesting speakers. Tasted some delicious infused honey flavors and took a shot at loading and unloading pallets of bees on the flatbed using a fancy bobcat. No chance I'm getting hired though.

11/01/2025

Spent the goat and ghoul filled evening at the Hillsborough County Fair with Tampa Bay Beekeepers Association .

We talked to the public about bees and sold a few bottles of honey.

10/27/2025

10/19/2025

Always love seeing how different apiary locations produce honey that are different colors and have differing tastes during the same season.

Any guesses which of our apiaries made that lovely golden yellow honey?
A)Seminole Heights
B)Bloomingdale
C)Brandon

09/28/2025

Popped some lids today to take a peek. Look down between those frames. See that? Capped honey!

09/21/2025

Peltophorum pterocarpum aka South American Yellow Poinciana is in full bloom near one of the bee yards. This plant is a great nectar producer and source of protein for many pollinators. Can't wait until the fall harvest!

08/17/2025

Pulled a few frames of honey today. First time ever pulling honey that was so wet. 20%. Going to try to dry it down a little.

Here are the girls cleaning up the equipment.

07/20/2025

Everywhere you look there are sabal palms blooming and bees working to collect that sweet nectar.

It seems late to us but that's of little concern for the bees.

07/09/2025

Clean up crew on duty. Once the workers collect all that they can we will give it a good wash and put it away until the fall harvest.

About 45 bottles left. It wasn't a huge harvest but happy many regulars have been able to restock their pantry with some of the best honey on the block.