By Nanette Wiser
When the bees go we go, say the climate change scientists. One Pinellas County resident is making a difference.
Jennifer Stephens (or JJ) is Mother Nature’s best friend and a force for good. Now living in Madeira Beach, she came here after 15 years on a 40-acre farm in rural Kentucky where she kept her first beehives. “I fell in love with bees, joined The Buzz Club, a local bee group (The Buzz Club) to learn more and get guidance. My farm was registered as “Bad Daddy Farm” after my father, and I started making organic, hand-poured, Bad Daddy Bee Balm with the leftover wax and other ingredients after I would harvest honey,” says the effervescent Jennifer, who moved here to get away from the harsh winters.
Soon after arriving in Paradise, she met her partner Frick Hollingsworth, and got him buzzing about beekeeping. “I had brought what I had left of my wax and ingredients from Bad Daddy Farm, so I could make one last batch of bee balm – and Frick was fascinated! Frick surprised me with Bad Daddy Bee balm labels that he had designed (with our cute little angry bee), then surprised me on my birthday with a beehive (minus the bees),” recalls Jennifer.
They added two more hives to their yard and after a State of Florida inspection, were officially and legally registered as Frickifer Apiary, and after the first honey harvest, Mad Beach Bees. Eventually they relocated the beehives to the rooftop balcony – away from the ground, the critters and the lights which disturbed the bees. “Now they are happier than ever and super healthy – and we’ve had many swarms (it’s a sign of a healthy hive), which helps to increase the local honeybee population,” says Jennifer.
Every batch of honey they harvest is different, based on whatever the bees forage at the time, and they label each batch with a color dot and keep tasting notes. Last year, they harvested 12 gallons, inviting friends to help with the honey harvest, uncap the honeycomb and use the centrifuge to pull it out of the frames. At their parties, they often have honey tastings. Best of all, Mad Beach Bees donates ALL their honey for sale to local charities and events. When’s she’s not dancing with bees, Jennifer competes on the ballroom dance circuit, a true renaissance woman.
Publisher Renee Roos adds: “If you have a bee swarm, contact a beekeeper or recommended bee removal service.” www.pollinator.org/learning-center/bee-rescuers