Thank you to our local Hillsborough County candidates for their participation in the 2024 Political Candidate Forum. We had a fantastic turnout of both candidates and residents. KCA truly appreciates all our local residents who took the opportunity to engage with candidates vying to represent Keystone. It was inspiring to see our community members asking thoughtful questions. We hope this evening was useful in bringing awareness to local issues as well as discovering or reconnecting with representatives that align with your values.
Check out the recording at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lzUTLth52ig
Thank you to the American Legion Post 147 for graciously offering their space to hold such an important community meeting. The American Legion is a local venue available for rent, contact them at (813) 920-4512
Our School Supply Drive ran from July 8 through the 31st. The kids had the opportunity to decorate the collection boxes while at summer camp at Keystone Park and KCA collected the items. The Keystone community responded and graciously donated hundreds of school items that were delivered to local children with a need as well as area schools. It was an overwhelming success and we could not have done it without such generous neighbors. We celebrated with a back to school ice cream social to commemorate the return to school later this month.
August 22, 2024 - 6:30PM to 8:30PM
VOTE FOR BYLAW UPDATE ON THE KEYSTONE BOUNDARY
General Membership Meeting
Social @ 6:30PM
Meeting starts @ 7 PM
Overview:
November 2, 2024 - 10 am to 2 pm
Reach out to the events chairperson to volunteer to take part in this annual tradition or if you are interested in sponsorship opportunities! We are looking to make this year unique and exciting! More info to come
Contact kcaevents@keystonecivic.org
KCA is now on Instagram
Contact info@keystonecivic.org to learn about sponsorship opportunities.
Brook Houck, President
Mike Atherton, Treasurer
Heather Heath, Events
Regina Hernandez, Land Use
Angela Murphy, Membership
Agricultural News by: Jane Whitehurst
THE BEES KNEES
They are 4,000 different species of bees in the US and about 29 species can only be found in Florida. Florida native bees are mostly solitary, ground dwellers. Honeybees make up a small fraction but are more social and live in hives. Many people think honeybees are endangered, but none of them are on the endangered list. Unfortunately, eight species of other bees are, with the most recent being the Rusty Patched Bumble Bee.
Honeybees are not indigenous to North America. They were imported here in the 1700’s to increase crop yields via pollination. As the forager bees pollinate from flower to flower, they bring the nectar back inside their stomach to the hive and regurgitate their stomach’s contents to the processer bee, who through a very detailed procedure makes honey. The benefits of the honey for people include, being an antioxidant, having antibacterial and antifungal properties, and soothing a sore throat. For people who suffer with environmental allergies, ingesting a teaspoon of honey, that is made locally, can significantly help. It works because the bees have pollinated many of the flowering trees, even oaks, that cause some people so much suffering. Ingesting a little bit of the same thing that hurts when you breathe in will allow your body to develop an immune system. The trick is that it does just a little at a time unlike the assault that happens to your respiratory system during certain months of the year. It can take 6 months before you see a difference, so be patient to reap the benefits of being allergy free.
Stephanie Ramthun has been in the bee business for nine years. She laughs at herself when she thinks back at that beginning when her husband and her first bought 40 beehives. She knew so little that she had to look on the internet at pictures of bees to determine which ones were drones.
Now she has Tampa Bees a successful business with over 100 hives. Tampa Bees not only raises their bees and sells honey, but they help other people get started in the bee business. Many of their customers are bee hosts and they are looking for more. The job of the bee hosts can be as simple as allowing a beehive to be placed in their yard. Tampa Bees will tend to the hive at least twice a month to maintain the hive. Proper maintenance of the hive assures that the bees will not swarm. Tampa Bees will also remove the honey and process the honey into bottles for the host. The bees and the honey belong to the host and Tampa Bees charges for maintaining the hive and processing the honey. Some hosts can become more hands on if they learn to maintain their own hive and process the honey.
Surprisingly, beehives in Florida do well in the sun. Bees can regulate their body temperature whereas most other insects cannot. Putting the hive in the direct sunlight will be too hot for possible invading insects. It turns out that Florida honeybees are a bit more aggressive than northern honeybees. A couple of years back Stephanie tried to introduce some of the more peaceful northern bees like the Buckfast and Carniolan species with her predominate Italian honeybee species here in Florida. She was hoping the mixing of the genes would produce bees that were gentler to work with. She was disappointed to discover the new honeybees could not handle the predator insects as well and that they would swarm more often.
Stephanie gets stung a little more than she might up north where they can handle their bees often with bare hands. Here she keeps herself covered and wears a pair of gloves, but she can still get a sting occasionally. The more she is stung the less it affects her physically, but she feels bad for the bee. The stinger on a bee is barbed so when they feel provoked, they sting but when they go to pull out the stinger it gets caught on the skin and it ends up peeling away the bee’s female organs. Therefore, the honeybee only stings once and then dies. It is a slow, gruesome death.
How do you know if your yard would be a good hosting site? If you have a quiet, sunny spot in your yard, preferable no grass so therefore no mowing, you are probably a good candidate. Stephanie explains that city yards often are better hosts then the country. The reason is that most Florida landscapes have a type of plant blooming all year. In the woods, a hive could starve during certain parts of the year if nothing was blooming. As always planting Florida native plants like bottle brush and Spanish needle that don’t need fertilizer, pesticides, or insecticides are the best bet.
Your bees will not stay in your yard they will travel to find different foods to bring back to the hive. Don’t worry about your neighbors they aren’t going to get stung and probably won’t even know you have bees unless you don’t manage the hive.
To manage a hive before they swarm means you need to be able to tell what the signs are that the hive is getting too large. A professional beekeeper will take out half of the brood with the old queen to a new location far away. The other half of the brood will stay in the old hive, and they will pick a honeybee to turn into the new queen. This is how it would happen in the wild as well. The old queen takes half of the brood and swarms to a new location. Managing the hive allows the beekeeper to keep track of the bees and prevents people, especially in very populated areas, from getting stung.
If you want more information, please contact TBBA (tampabaybeekeepers.com) This is the local beekeeper association. Also contact Stephanie Ramthun at 813-816-1608 or go to her website https://www.tampabees.com/. She would love to talk to anyone about bees and even offers a “bee experience.” Finally, you can find her honey at Keystone Farmer's Market.
Remember, always work with nature instead of against her.
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KCA MISSION STATEMENT: The Keystone Civic Association was formed for civic improvement and social benefits, together with promotion of the interests, welfare and ideals of the Keystone community.
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