In Florida, you can keep bees in your backyard.
That's a good thing because honey bees are vital to food and wildlife in the state.
Despite threats like disease, habitat loss and queen quality issues, bee populations are on the rise in Florida.
Experts in the state say that's due in part to backyard beekeeping.
There are around 5,000 registered beekeepers in the state, according to the Florida Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services (FDACS).
That number has doubled in the last decade since a 2012 Florida law made backyard beekeeping legal in the state.
Backyard beekeepers manage between one and 40 colonies. Sideline beekeepers manage between 41 and 100 colonies. And commercial beekeepers manage more than 101 colonies, according to the state's definitions.
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While commercial beekeepers oversee the most colonies in the state, the vast majority, 92%, of beekeepers in Florida are hobbyists.
Amy Vu, a state specialized agent with the University of Florida/IFAS Honey Bee Research and Extension Laboratory, said that's part of a national trend.
"It's actually very common to have a lot of backyard beekeepers — you know, hobbyist beekeepers...with one or two colonies. That's the majority of the beekeepers, not just here in Florida, but on a nationwide scale," she said.
Jim Runyon is a volunteer beekeeper with the Pinellas Beekeepers Association. The nonprofit group manages two apiaries, or bee yards, in Seminole.
On a recent Saturday, he explained the process of inspecting the hives. They're stackable, wooden boxes with removable frames.
"We'll take a frame out of each hive, look at it. See if they have sufficient resources for the bees. See if the queen is laying eggs…. We may find the queen, we may not. She's very elusive," he said.
Across the apiary, Maura Scanlon pointed out a group of male bees, called drones, to a group of first-time beekeepers.
"There's a drone right in the middle...he's a chunky monkey," she said. "He doesn't do anything except fertilize the queen."
Their work is paying off.
In Florida, bee populations are on the rise. Recent data show there are more than 730,000 bee colonies in the state, an upward trend from around 343,000 in 2012.
That's good news for Florida agriculture. There are over 100 kinds of fruits and vegetables that rely on bee pollination.
The increase in crop production from the pollinators brings in an extra $65 million a year to the state's economy, according to FDACS.
And that's on top of the money brought in from honey in Florida, the fifth-most honey-producing state.
As beekeeper Toni Lupo investigates a hive frame, she points out: bees make more than honey, too.
"They make propolis, which is made from tree saps and resins...we call it bee glue," she said.
They make pollen, which acts as an enzyme when digested with honey. They make beeswax. They also make medicinal honey, which can have healing properties.
"They are masters at their craft," she said.
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