Honey Availability Update
UPDATE 04/25/2024:
CURRENT HONEY SUPPLY IS SOLD OUT…
Next Honey Harvest will be in a month or so
depending on the weather and the bees.
Honey availability
will always be posted on this website
so check back often for quick
and convenient pickup from the “Honey Table“

Backyard Beekeeping in Naples, Florida…

NaplesBees Apiary is a backyard apiary located in the Naples, Florida area. Managing bees in Southwest Florida is exhilarating and, with a little effort, one can harvest honey and wax. I became addicted to the fascinating hobby of backyard beekeeping and have successfully harvested many pounds of honey and wax over the years. Along the way I learned and continue to learn new things about beekeeping. My goal with this web site is to showcase what hobby beekeeping is and maybe generate an interest to get started yourself so that it may help you enjoy something truly special and rewarding. It can surely be said beekeeping is as much an “art” as it is a science!! I hope you enjoy reading on this web site about some of my Naples area beekeeping adventures!

Did you know?……. It takes a almost 3 million flower visits for the bees to make a pound of honey. One teaspoon of honey is the life’s work of twelve bees. The honey bee is the only insect on earth that produces food eaten by man and honey is the only food on earth that does not naturally spoil. A hive will try to maintain its internal temperature in the mid 90’s regardless of the outside temperature….. nature’s natural thermostat if you like it hot !!

Certificate of Beekeeping Registration for this beekeeper and this apiary is current with the Florida Department of Agriculture as required under Florida statute 586 , and live bee removal authorized under Florida rule 5E-14.151, F.A.C. . I am a member of the Beekeepers Association of Southwest Florida , Bee Boyz and Girlz, and a Vietnam era U.S. Army veteran. and…… Anyone can become a beekeeper!

Buyer Beware…..Did you know that most store bought honey is probably not real honey or is diluted with non honey additives? Watch an informative video about fake honey here. Honey fraud is a big big problem in the world, especially being caused by China. If you want the real honey buy it from a local area beekeeper or you may get this! Read about our honey here.

NaplesBees Apiary – Latest Activity Details:

3/22/2024 – After a great 2023 beekeeping year, the 2024 gradual warming days are beginning to have the hives increase their numbers and flight activity. Most of my hives survived our cooler winter months without problems, but there were a couple of the older hives that became deadouts. Also a few of the younger hives had trouble maturing in to a sustainable hive or they simply abandoned their hive box for parts unknown. Sometimes you can do everything you think right and the bees just want to leave!! After 10 years of backyard beekeeping, there are still many bee mysteries to ponder, including “why did they leave?????”

12/6/2023 – An early December harvest yielded about 197 pounds of light amber delicious honey with some of the multi colored harvested frames shown here.

9/16/2023 – Finally …….a beer made for all the backyard beekeepers out there…..Sometimes you just want to go where they know your name……..

8/4/2023 – NaplesBees had the largest honey harvest ever!!!! About 852 pounds of delicious wildflower capped honey was harvested from the 23 hive apiary. It is just always amazing how the bees can surprise one with their activity when a nectar flow happens. Straight from the hive to the bucket and bottle within hours. Fully capped honey cells harvesting of nature’s pure honey…. it simply doesn’t get any better honey than this.

4/15/2023 – NaplesBees had a table display at the annual Collier Mosquito Control District open house located in one of their hangars at the Naples Airport. As usual the observation hive was enjoyed by young and old, with a few able to find that elusive queen, courtesy being pointed out by one of the older enthusiasts. Over 300 people showed up to enjoy the bees and those other flying machines!

Click on picture for a larger view.	Photograph courtesy CMCD. A local beekeeper is pointing out the queen traversing the comb on the back side of the observation hive. Click on picture for a larger view.
Picture courtesy CMCD. Click on picture for a larger view.	Picture courtesy CMCD. Click on picture for a larger view.

2/20/2023 – The NaplesBees apiary hives are starting to increase their size as evident on multiple hives exploding with new foragers emerging and doing their figure eight location dance upon first emerging from the hive. They will remember their hive’s exact location to return to when they do their traveling for as much as 5 miles from their hive entrance. The audio heard in the video is the actual roaring sound the bees produce when hundreds are hovering in front of the hive entrance. It only lasts for a few minutes before the hive settles down to continue the normal coming and going of foraging bees.

12/8/2022 – An apiary wide check of all the honey supers showed that the bees have been able to make some honey despite the devastating effects of local flora loss due to hurricane Ian winds, but the amount of honey is significantly less than normal. A second honey harvest for the year 2022 will probably not be possible, but, hopefully, one can be done early in 2023. I am always careful to leave enough honey for the hives’ own use during the cooler winter months as this is their main source of nutrition during this time period.

10/16/2022 – The NaplesBees apiary hives survived the area 9/23/2022 hurricane Ian. A lot of the surrounding vegetation was stripped by the high winds, so the bees’ nectar and pollen may be in short supply for them for a while. But nature is resilient and life goes on.

6/28/2022 – We did our first honey harvest of the year and the honey is a medium dark amber color which is typical for us this time or year. When available, get a bottle of this delicious and healthful honey here There was a nice newspaper article appearing about SWFL backyard beekeeping and the honey harvest here .

3/30/2022 – Removals and swarms are again starting the season off as very active here.

11/4/2021 – We did our second honey harvest of the year and it was a good size harvest.

9/1/2021 – There has been a lot of apiary bee activity in the last few months. The NaplesBees apiary is at 23 strong hives, which is the capacity here for space/time/energy!! Bees Boyz and Girlz now has a new “holding” apiary for hives that need a home and can’t be kept here. The goal is to have a temporary place for hives with the intent for them to become a source for existing or future area backyard beekeepers.

6/11/2021 – We did our first honey harvest of the year.

4/12/2021 – Removals and swarms are starting the season off as very active here.

3/23/2021 – A limited number of established hives are for sale here.

11/13/2020 – We did our second honey harvest of the year.

8/7/2020 – We did a FUN removal of a large hive with the help of 4 young beekeepers. See pictures here.

7/2/2020 – We did our first honey harvest of the year.

6/27/2020 – The Bee Boyz and Girlz group did a live removal from a North Naples house roof. See details and pictures here.

6/1/2020 – Bee Boyz and Girlz get together group formed.

5/19/2020 – Short time lapse video showing a NaplesBees hive’s bees working together on getting rid of a rubberband used to hold comb sections in place! They work it to the edge and then it quickly falls off as bees gather their weight on the dangling end.

4/17/2020 – NaplesBees apiary is getting busy fast! Populations are growing as many nurse bees transition to become foraging bees. Watch full screen!

4/12/2020 – Easter Sunday morning swarm removal video here.

3/11/2020 – A very large hive was removed. See details and pictures here.

3/3/2020 – A very small hive was removed from a cypress tree. See details and pictures here.

2/21/2020 – A difficult but successful removal from a street Comcast box. See details and pictures here.

1/2/2020 – A small swarm on a tree trunk was removed. See a picture here.

1/2/2020 – A beekeeping friend in Marco Island is keeping hives in a creative way at his waterfront house located on a canal. Notice in the right picture a couple hives with little weathervanes!