The papers
What the papers say
Three facts sit under every Orlando inspection. Queens can lay almost any month. Varroa reproduces in that brood, so mite pressure stays high. Mid-summer forage thins, and a heavy spring hive can starve in August. Those sentences are UF/IFAS and USDA, read here in journal order.
The warm climate allows colonies to maintain brood throughout much of the year. While this is a good thing for overall colony growth, it also leads to higher Varroa populations throughout the year.
Year-round brood
Keeping Bees in Florida contrasts Florida with northern climates: bees fly, and queens lay, almost any time of year. Commercial outfits move colonies here for that winter. The cost is pest pressure. Small hive beetles thrive in the same heat and humidity. African-derived honey bees have been in Florida since at least the early 2000s. Visual ID is impossible; FDACS says so.
The 3 percent line
The Central Florida table repeats a threshold: consider treating when Varroa reaches 3 percent, 3 mites per 100 bees, alcohol wash or sugar shake. Welcome to the Apiary teaches the sugar shake in youth language. How to Quantify Varroa destructor walks the count for adults. Product names and legal labels stay on the live calendar. Sample, write the number, then read the label.
Honey on the state books
Keeping Bees in Florida, citing USDA NASS 2022, counted more than 650,000 managed colonies in Florida and 8 million pounds of honey in 2021, with nearly 5,000 registered beekeepers as of December 2022, about 85 percent of them backyard. Those figures describe a state of keepers. They are not a harvest forecast for a Thornton Park lime.
| Measure | Figure in Keeping Bees in Florida |
|---|---|
| Registered Florida beekeepers (Dec 2022) | Nearly 5,000 |
| Share backyard, 0 to 40 colonies | About 85 percent |
| Managed colonies | More than 650,000 |
| Honey, 2021 | 8 million pounds |
How to read a paper
- Open the live UF/IFAS paper (Florida Beekeeping Management Calendar, Keeping Bees in Florida, Welcome to the Apiary).
- Check which Florida band the table is for. Orlando is Central.
- Take thresholds and climate facts. Leave product lists and fees on the live page.
- Ask a county extension office or an apiary inspector when the hive disagrees with the month.
Questions
Is this a product review?
It is a reading of extension and USDA pages. Treatment brands belong on the Florida Beekeeping Management Calendar and on the label.
Where is the month table?
On the year page, and on the Central Florida table.