Cedar Key Apiary

Cedar Key Apiary A keeper of bees for over 50 years that wants happy and healthy bees producing all natural unadulterated local honey in Cedar Key, Levy County Florida.

The bees are my highest priority, extracting honey and selling it helps to pay for keeping the bees.

I feel like a grown up beekeeper now with my own bee tool box!Now if I could only find every hive tool lost at the apiar...
06/18/2026

I feel like a grown up beekeeper now with my own bee tool box!

Now if I could only find every hive tool lost at the apiary…….🐝🐝🐝🐝🐝

06/04/2026

2026 Spring honey is all uncapped and extracted. From here it will need to settle, moisture content confirmed and then bottled.

Anticipate some ready for sale within two weeks.

The flavor is fantastic!!

Pulled the honey supers today, it looks like the best harvest ever for Cedar Key Apiary! It was a very strange Spring wi...
06/02/2026

Pulled the honey supers today, it looks like the best harvest ever for Cedar Key Apiary! It was a very strange Spring with extreme drought but our healthy hives overcame the environmental challenges.

The honey is a light and a flavorful mix of wildflowers and native palmetto blossoms.

We will begin uncapping tomorrow and will have it bottled with availably within a few weeks…. the wait will be worth it!

Healthy happy bees!





Hello from the Cedar Key Beekeeper!Not much longer for some fantastic fresh local honey.
05/23/2026

Hello from the Cedar Key Beekeeper!

Not much longer for some fantastic fresh local honey.

05/17/2026

Beehives create new queens, andοΏΌ swarm naturally to reproduce. It’s always important to stay ahead of swarms as they deplete the resources of the hives.

Typically, as the egg laying capacity of the old queen diminishes the hive decides to raise a new queen. In this case, the old queen usually leaves the hiveοΏΌ with many of the worker bees and that’s called a swarm.

Swarm management is really more of an art, but the science is important. The beekeeper should inspect the hives regularly during swarm season and once queen cells are built a swarm is almost certainly going to happen. To avoid a swarm we create a new hive with the queen cells making the old hive believe the swarm is already occurred. Space management is important as well with additional space constantly being added to a growing hive to stay ahead of their growth.

Still, despite the best management practices, bee swarms happen and we keep several traps in the apiary year-round to catch them.




05/07/2026

Cedar Key Apiary honeybees are doing much better this year. The wildflower honey they are making is beautiful golden and very tasty.

Overcoming the hurricanes for the past two years was a struggle. Our bees had more focused care over the Winter and their sheen is glistening indicating healthy bees this Spring.

Healthy happy bees!! 🐝 🐝 🐝 🐝 🐝 🐝 🐝 🐝 🐝 🐝 🐝 🐝 🐝 🐝 🐝 🐝!🐝 🐝 🐝 🐝 🐝 🐝 🐝 🐝 🐝 🐝 🐝 🐝 🐝!



05/05/2026

Florida is in an extreme drought and fresh water sources for all kinds of wildlife are in a critical state. The small pond that we dug at the apiary a few years ago is completely dry.οΏΌ

This is the prime time for honey flow, and it will probably be affected somewhat by the drought with the moisture affecting nectar in wildflowers. Fortunately οΏΌthe honey flow looks better than anticipated at this time especially comparing it to the last few years with hurricanes οΏΌimpact.

Honeybees need significant water and it’s important that a water source be provided at the apiary so they don’t become a nuisance in animal water troughs swimming pools, birdfeeders, etc.

Here is a dedicated watering fountain for the honeybees that is very active.



Beekeeping Myths and Truths Presentation Where: Cedar Key Library 2nd Floor When: Saturday March 21 at 10:30 AMAn infor...
03/20/2026

Beekeeping Myths and Truths Presentation
Where: Cedar Key Library 2nd Floor
When: Saturday March 21 at 10:30 AM

An informative and humorous presentation about beekeeping from a local Beekeeper sharing decades of experiences.

Honeybees are challenged by many forces that will be discussed interactively.

Honey is sold out until late Spring!Thank you everyone for helping to defray the costs for this passion of mine. We wil...
03/03/2026

Honey is sold out until late Spring!

Thank you everyone for helping to defray the costs for this passion of mine. We will post when a fresh crop is available.

02/27/2026

A friend of mine sent this to me and at first blush it’s interesting.

Hopefully it is true but I can’t find anything else on the internet about this except this Facebook post.

I do some presentations every now and then to different groups about beekeeping and one of the often asked questions is do your bees know you? I tend to believe the bees being a wild animal more or less tolerate a beekeeperβ€˜s behavior. It depends how a beekeeper reacts in actions and temperament and actions as to whether the bees will attack. A great part also depends on the bees attitude and status. Happy 🐝 are bees that are making lots of babies, have lots of food and have nice weather. Angry 🐝 , are bees that are lacking food and in the middle of lousy weather.

Worker bees typically live less than 60 days so I’m not sure that there would be a lot of continuity in the worker 🐝 remembering the beekeeper. It’s possible that every 30 days a newly hatched population of 🐝 might develop some awareness of the beekeeper. In my opinion, the 🐝 pretty much remain a wild animal and that a beekeeper is a manipulator of the honeybee behaviors.

https://www.facebook.com/share/v/17RbTaFvVM/?mibextid=wwXIfr

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Cedar Key, FL
32625

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