Go to www.savethebeesplate.com for your Florida license plate voucher!

The FSBA supports the beekeeping industry in Florida as a whole, the FSBA works on Education of the public, beekeepers, and lawmakers, Supporting the commercial and backyard beekeepers where possible, and working on legislation to favor beekeeping in Florida. 

The FSBA is promoting the pre-sale of the Vouchers for the Florida Safe the Bees license plate. When the voucher pre-sales reach 3,000 the plate will go in production. The revenue from the plate sales will support education, scholarships and research directed by members of the FSBA.  Find more information at www.savethebeesplate.com 

YES!! 1st of all thank you for supporting the program, 2nd yes please submit your voucher receipt with your member application or renewal and have 1-year membership on us!  

The European Honeybee is not a Florida native bee, or actually to the US. There are about 300 native bee species in Florida. Because honeybees store honey for lean times instead of hibernating or waiting for the next generation, honey bees are one of the only pollinators that can be ready to pollinate the early-season crops in Florida and around the US. 

o The FSBA is managed by volunteers. The board of directors and committee chairs have diverse beekeeping experiences, from novice, backyard, commercial or even former beekeeping inspector. Members range from students to CEO’s.  If you are interested in assisting the association and volunteering for the FSBA, please contact the secretary or a board member. 

VFD stands for veterinary feed directive, a prescription for antibiotics for animals.  In 2015 honeybees were classified as livestock/food-producing animals by the federal government because products from apiculture including honey, propolis, pollen, and royal jelly enter the human food chain.  The requirements for completing a VFD order or prescription for honeybees are the same as for any other food-producing animal, and they apply equally to hobbyists and commercial beekeeping enterprises.  Check the www.beeVFD.com for more information. 

Well…… Yes and No…….  About 1/3rd of all the food we eat is pollinated, and the majority is done by the honeybee. Because of this importance to the agricultural industry, beekeepers will work hard to have enough colonies and bees for pollination. However, there are more and more pressures to the bees where they do not survive as long as even 20 years ago. (actually, there is an overall reduction in insects in general!) Therefore it is more difficult and expensive to have the bees survive. Studies have shown that over the last decade, beekeepers lose between 30 and 40% of their colonies each year.