Welcome to the Lionberry Apiary!
Our family cares for and raises bees
We usually maintain 3 active hives in our backyard here in Colonialtown North near downtown Orlando, FL!
Each hive contains anywhere from 20,000 to 80,000 honey bees who are busy every day working to pollinate all the plants in a 2-3 mile radius from our house. They collect local pollen and nectar which provides them the food they need to grow and survive. The nectar is stored in honeycomb which functions like their food cellar.
Bees are very efficient at collecting and storing honey. We only collect the extra honey they store, leaving the honey they need to live on with them in the hive.
Our main role in caring for these wonderful insects is to help keep them healthy, monitoring for disease, treating for Varroa mites (which transmit diseases to honeybees), and making sure they have enough food to survive.