Bee Boyz and Girlz ….. is an informal gathering of some Naples area hobby beekeepers that get together once in a while to share bees and beekeeping information.  There is no political correctness, no membership dues, no officers, no rules….and no woke bull****….. just common sense and a fun group of new and old hobby beekeepers helping one another in the true spirit of backyard beekeeping. 

Latest News Listed First

1/20/2024 – Bee Boyz and Girlz news…..  Bears versus a BB&G beekeeper — round 2………. The beekeeper’s apiary destroyed by bears back in October (see 10/4/2023 below) has been rebuilt with a serious electric fence to hopefully deter the bears.   Two hives from a Naples area BB&G beekeeper were donated and brought out today.  Hats off to this owner and veteran beekeeper for his determination to create a great design and do all the planning required to make such a first class 12 thousand volt electric bear fence apiary.  Stay tuned for the next update in this exciting world of backyard beekeeping!!! Click on picture for a larger view

10/4/2023 – Bee Boyz and Girlz news…..  One of our local beekeepers on 26 Ave SE had bears visit his apiary recently.  Bears have amazing strength to easily tear through the unprotected hive looking for that bee larva protein and honey they crave.  A trip out on the afternoon of 10/5/2023 to salvage any remaining bees, was mostly unsuccessful because the bears had come through a SECOND time the evening before.  One small group of bees on the ground was found and able to be transported to another apiary, but the queen did not look healthy so the survival does not look good. Click on picture for a larger view. Click on picture for a larger view. Click on picture for a larger view. Click on picture for a larger view.

8/4/2023 – Bee Boyz and Girlz news…..  A sudden nectar flow in the last few weeks ended up filling up most of the NaplesBees supers with delicious wildflower capped honey. Buckets of honey harvested from the supers. Click on picture for a larger view. Wax from the 264 harvested honey comb frames that were processed via a solar wax melting box……… 29.6 pounds.   Candles made from some of the beeswax. Example of pillar candles made from the natural colored wax and the dyed red and green color wax.  Click on picture for a larger view.

6/24/2023 – Bee Boyz and Girlz news…..  Another new apiary !!   One happy beekeeper oversees multiple hives arriving and being set up on stands at a new apiary on Golden Oaks Lane in Naples.  The strong hives were donated from another local BB&G apiary and some of the hive frames were transferred to new brood boxes. Hives moved to a new apiary. Click on picture for a larger view.

 6/10/2023 – Bee Boyz and Girlz news….. A first honey harvest for a 15+ hive BB&G apiary resulted in about 180 pounds of light amber honey.  Frames were harvested one day and the next day the honey was extracted using a 4 frame motorized spinner.

Full capped honey super frames about to be uncapped and spun to extract the honey. Click on picture for a larger view. A few of the many bottles of delicious local honey from this harvest. Click on picture for a larger view.

Uncapping the frames with a roller opens up the honey containing wax cells. Click on picture for a larger view. The joyful fruits of backyard beekeeping…… The apiary owners team up with one uncapping with a roller and the other operating the extractor. Click on picture for a larger view.

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.

 

1/16/2023 – Bee Boyz and Girlz news…..  A couple young BB&G beekeepers inspect a few hives at an apiary in Golden Gate Estates.  At only 3 and 5 years old they already know their way around a brood box.
Click on picture for a larger view	Click on picture for a larger view.

12/8/2022 – Bee Boyz and Girlz news…..  It is with great sadness to report that one of the BB&G founding members is closing his Marco Island apiary for good. The extreme flooding of house and apiary caused by hurricane Ian (described below in the 10/15/2022 entry) was the end for this apiary.  All surviving hives and much beekeeping related gear were relocated to other BB&G member apiaries.  In the two years of having many hives, over 50 swarms appeared in his apiary, resulting in BB&G awarding him the title of “Swarm King” and providing a rich source of nucs to many of the BB&G folks.

10/23/2022 – Bee Boyz and Girlz news…..  Even the youngest get in on the action of checking out a hive at a BB&G apiary in Golden Gate Estates!!

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Click on picture for a larger view.

 

10/22/2022 – Bee Boyz and Girlz news…..  New BB&G beekeepers set up their new apiary at their Oaks Blvd location with a hive removed from the hurricane Ian flooding of a Marco Island apiary described below.  The frames of bees and brood were moved in to a new 8 frame brood box and then their flow hive super was placed on top.  Given time, the bees should be able to settle down in their new location.  Room for my hives to come!

 10/15/2022 – Bee Boyz and Girlz news….. The BB&G group showed up Saturday morning at a Marco Island apiary.  Because of hurricane Ian, there was lots of flood damage to this BB&G person’s apiary hives.   Unfortunately multiple hives were deadouts from drowning because of the rising water.  The sole top bar hive was found hundreds of feet away, across the canal, having floated away and landing on a neighbors lawn.  Several of the surviving hives were relocated to other BB&G apiaries in Naples.

 7/12/2022 – Bee Boyz and Girlz news….. A large clay pot removal from a Naples area backyard was delivered to a fellow BB&G’s apiary and the bees and comb transferred to a hive box.   It should make for a nice apiary hive if the bees like their new home!

Removing the comb from the pot and placing in frames. Click on picture for a larger view.	The clay pot that had a broken out bottom. The comb was cut out for mounting in the hive box frames. Click on picture for a larger view.

6/5/2022 – Bee Boyz and Girlz news….. Another new BB&G beekeeper in East Naples checks their recently delivered hive obtained from one of the area BB&G beekeepers.  Some BB&G fellow beekeepers find they have more bees than their apiary can hold and then can make sure the extra hives find a good home….. it’s a win win for the bees and the beekeepers!!

Click on picture for a lager view.	Hive box with a queen excluder and a super ready to add. Click on picture for a larger view.
This hive is going to explode!! Look at that brood pattern!! It doesn’t get any better than this. Click on picture for a larger view.	A second hive was added to the apiary. Click on picture for a larger view.

3/12/2022 – Bee Boyz and Girlz news….. A hive found to be in an old storage box was transported from a Florida warehouse located on the east coast.   Once back in the BB&G beekeeper’s apiary, a Saturday morning team effort started with opening of the deteriorated box.  Inside was a large hive, and the process was begun to cut out and rubber band mount many large pieces of pollen and brood filled comb. Toward the end of the process, the queen was found and placed in the new brood box along with many of the bees.  Hopefully, they will find their new home to their satisfaction.

Close up view of that old storage box before loading up to bring back to Naples. A close look of one of them shows bees at the top front hole. Click on picture for a larger view.	Old storage boxes containing bees moved in to place on an apiary stand, awaiting opening and bee removal in to a brood box. Click on picture for a larger view.
Team effort to remove the comb, cut to size, and rubber band it in to frames. Click on picture for a larger view.	Team effort to remove comb from the old box. Click on picture for a larger view.
Removing slabs of comb and mounting them in frames. Click on picture for a larger view.	The old storage box is temporally set next to the hive box to allow the remaining bees to find their new home. Click on picture for a larger view.

1/23/2022 – Bee Boyz and Girlz news….. A new beekeeper receives a nuc from one of the BB&G beekeepers.  The bees and all their comb were transferred to their new home’s brood box.

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Click on picture for a larger view

11/17/2021 – Bee Boyz and Girlz news….. One of the BB&G beekeepers has added a second apiary to his growing beekeeping hobby.  It was completed recently and the apiary is protected with an electric fence.

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5/16/2021 – Bee Boyz and Girlz news….. One of the BB&G beekeepers had his first honey harvest.  Many pounds of delicious wildflower honey was bottled.  Lots more honey hopefully to come going forward as the hives are rapidly growing in size and the nectar flows start to appear.

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5/8/2021 – Bee Boyz and Girlz news….. Another Saturday morning adventure…  BB&G beekeepers helped a fellow beekeeper put up 5 swarm traps at a wooded lot near 6L farms east of Naples.  The traps held 4 plastic foundation frames, baited with lemon grass oil q tips in a plastic bag and then finally hoisted up high in a tree.  The swarm boxes were designed and built by one of our BB&G beekeepers that has had great success in many past swarm captures at his home apiary location. 

BB&G helper raising one of the swarm boxes. Click on picture for larger view.

 

4/17/2021 – Bee Boyz and Girlz news….. On this Saturday morning,  a couple BB&G volunteers removed a hive from a water meter at a home on Marco Island. The hive and bees were set up in a brood box next to the water meter and given a chance to move in. Once the bees have settled in, the BB&G volunteer shown below will transfer the beehive to the owner’s brand new flow hive set up in the back of his yard waiting for the bees.

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4/13/2021 – Bee Boyz and Girlz news….. A new hobby beekeeper in North Fort Myers gets his first hive from a fellow BB&G beekeeper that had done some splits recently.   The hope is to eventually be able to introduce the hive to the Flow Hive super that he had acquired recently.

Click on picture for a larger view.

4/10/2021 – Bee Boyz and Girlz news….. Today, a swarm trap hive was transferred to a hive box. All the comb was transferred from the swarm box and rubber band mounted in frames. The box was then placed in the same location where the swarm box had been. In abut a week the hive box will be moved to the apiary.

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3/17/2021 – Bee Boyz and Girlz news….. Helping out a commercial beekeeper, some Bee Boyz and Girlz beekeepers made a trip out to an Immokalee water melon fields to fence in and repair hives that were damaged by bears.  About 40 hives were destroyed. The day’s work also included installing electric fences on several other beehive locations in other area farming fields.

Bear destroyed hives. Click on picture for a larger view.	Repairing bear damaged hives and installing electric fencing. Click on picture for a larger view.
Helping out a commercial beekeeper is a tough, hot job, but one can get a free watermelon!!!

2/19/2021 – Bee Boyz and Girlz news…..Marco Island bees are going strong at the location on a canal. See below 1/2/2020 listing entry of these honey producing beehives a year ago.

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2/18/2021 – Bee Boyz and Girlz news…..A couple Bee Boyz and Girlz volunteers took a road trip to a commercial beekeeper’s operation operated by Councell Farms and volunteered to help do splits.  We ended up visiting three yards and doing about 50 splits in to nuc boxes. It was an exhausting hard work day, but rewarding and enjoyable!!  In each yard, hundreds of hives are arranged four to a pallet and each hive was opened and examined for its ability to be split.  The nuc is then closed up and loaded on the truck for eventual placement in a distant yard needing pollination.   Spending a day with a commercial beekeeper gives one a real appreciation for the dedication and hard work of commercial beekeeping.

Click on picture for a larger view.	Click on picture for a larger view.
Click on picture for a larger view.	Click on picture for a larger view.

 

2/13/2021 – Bee Boyz and Girlz news…..One of the new Bee Boyz and Girlz apiaries gets an Oxalic acid treatment with the “gas-vap” device. Each hive is treated 3 times on a weekly schedule to maximize the varroa mite killing.

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12/5/2020 – Bee Boyz and Girlz news…..Congratulations are in order as another of our new Bee Boyz and Girlz beekeepers gets her new apiary up and running with a BB&G donated strong hive. A hive check today showed a healthy busy queen and lots of brood.

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11/5/2020 – Bee Boyz and Girlz news…..One of our beginning Bee Boyz and Girlz beekeeper gets her first honey harvest!!  It is always exciting and rewarding to see actual delicious raw honey from your very own hives.  The beekeeper’s apiary that produced this honey is the 5/25/2020 entry further down this page.

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10/31/2020 – Bee Boyz and Girlz news…..A new beekeeper gets his feet wet with his first removal.  This removal came from a garage wall and was good size with lots of brood comb.  The homemade beevac will need a little refinement, but it did work and the bees and comb were moved in to a brood box and placed in his apiary.

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9/19/2020 – Bee Boyz and Girlz news…..Two BB&G provided hives were moved out to the apiary of a new beekeeper’s location in Golden Gate Estates.

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9/13/2020 – Bee Boyz and Girlz news…..Bad news for one of our new beekeepers out in Golden Gate Estates.  During the early morning hours the complete apiary was destroyed by a bear or bears.  The odor of the hives and honey can carry a long distance and is an irresistible attraction to the animals.  This was the apiary set up on 5/16/2020 pictured further down on this page.

8/27/2020 – A new Bee Boyz and Girlz beekeeper got their first BB&G donated hive from a removal done earlier in the day by a couple other BeeB&G beekeepers.  The bees were moved out to this Golden Gate Estates home where a new apiary was being set up.  The bees can look forward to a good home.  Love that pink!!! Who says beekeeping can’t be both fun and fashionable !!!!

The hive was placed in a new beekeeper’s Golden Gate Estates apiary. Click on picture for a larger view.

8/7/2020 – The Bee Boyz and Girlz group got together to remove a large hive from the roof overhang of a Marco Island house. The attempt to get the original swarm to move in to a box was tried for a few days with no success, probably because the bees had already started to build comb on the soffit. So the decision was made to vacuum up the bees, catch the queen and transport the bees to their new home at a Bee Boyz and GIrlz member’s apiary in Golden Gate. The whole crew was given a chance to operate the beevac and scoop up a handful of bees to help look for the queen.

Large hive located on the roof overhang. Click on the picture for a larger view.	In just a few days after the swarm landed they had already built comb and that is probably why they never moved in to the box. Click on the picture for a larger view.
Toward the end of the vacuuming process, the queen was spotted and caged. Everyone got a chance to see up close what a beehive queen looks like.  Click on the picture for a larger view.	A queen member of the Bee Boyz and Girlz group brought a special crew to the removal site and they were a big help to get the bees vacuumed up and look for the queen. Everyone got a chance to operate the beevac and also gently scoop up a handful of bees while looking for the queen.  Click on the picture for a larger view.

5/25/2020 – Bee Boyz and Girlz member news…. Another new beekeeper’s great apiary setup in the Golden Gate area of Naples. The BB&G donated bees will be getting installed soon. The fence is a precaution to protect the hives from any potential bears known to be in the neighborhood.

Click on picture for a larger view.	Click on picture for a larger view.
What a difference a year makes with the apiary going in to the 2021 season with 6 hives and lots of supers. Click on picture for a larger view.

 

5/16/2020 – Bee Boyz and Girlz news…..Naples beekeeping locals get together to help install a BB&G donated new hive in a new apiary located in the back yard of a local Golden Gate area beekeeper. What’s great about backyard beekeeping is that the bees are usually very adaptable and apiaries can almost always be set up in a manner that fits in with the beekeeper’s situation. Time will tell how well the bees accept their new home!!!

Brand new apiary setup in Golden Gate, Naples, FL	Installing a new hive of bees and release of the queen.
bees and queen release getting set up.	Why not dress a hive box up? Some say it helps the bees more easily identify their home. Click on picture for a larger view

1/2/2020 – Bee Boyz and Girlz news…..A new beekeeper 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!

Click on picture for a lager view.