History of Beekeeping in Pensacola

By: Becca Fritschle

Why Bees Matter by the Numbers

• $25 Million: Value of honey produced in Florida each year • $29 Billion: Value of crops nationally that rely on honeybees • 6 Million U.S. Hives in 1947 • 2.5 Million U.S Hives in 2019

What can you do to save the Bees?

Plant a pollinator garden: By designing a garden with plants that attract pollinators, you’ll be proving a safe environment for your local bees. Key features of such a space include native flowering plants that bloom, nesting habitat, and water. Build a bee bath by simply filling a shallow bowl or dish with water and arrange rocks and twigs so that they poke out of the water .This gives passing bees a welcome spot to land and rest while they get a drink. Bee-friendly herbs include borage, chives, comfrey, fennel, lavender, marjoram, mint, oregano, rosemary, sage, thyme, and wild bergamot

Bee-friendly plants and flowers include coneflower, cosmo, rose, sweet pea, zinnia, honeysuckle, sunflower, bee balm, strawberries, dahlia, magnolias, snap dragon, lavender, calendula, hyacinth.

First hives were imported to Pensacola,FL by the English. This the year that Florida was first governed by England. Little Green Bees’ note: these bees would have been what we call German Black Bees or European dark bees, a popular variety that was brought by the colonists. We still find a hybrid form of this honey bee in the northern part of Escambia County. The hybrid forms are considered very defensive and are sometimes mistaken for Africanized honey bees (which we do NOT have in our area).

1763 1773

Beeswax was an article of export in the 18th century, particularly from the ports of Philadelphia, Charleston, Pensacola, and Mobile.

circa

1792 1896

Hives were established in Mobile, Alabama and wild honeybees flourished in the area (likely after having swarmed from established colonies.) Honey crop failure in parts of Florida due to heavy early rains followed by a long period of drought. (source: Gleanings in Bee Culture, 1896)

Did you know?

Worker Bees Live about 40 days and they produce a 12th of a teaspoon of honey in their Lifetimes. One hive can produce 20-70 pounds of honey every year. Each hive has one queen who can live 3-4 years. The queen is doted upon, fed a special diet of royal jelly, and forced to produce eggs at a rapid clip, with estimates ranging from 1,000 to 3,000 eggs a day. When the queen’s production runs low, the hive will produce a handful of new queens who then will battle it out for control. If a hive outgrows its home, it’ll grow a new queen and send one of the queens off with a portion of the hive, looking for a new home.