Clearwater garden has beekeepers buzzing about free place to keep hives, harvest honey
CLEARWATER, Fla. - Honey has been called nature’s perfect food. It’s been used as medicine, currency and it is the one food that never spoils.
"Bees are amazing wonderful creatures," shared Linda DiGloria a local beekeeper. "They're very community-oriented. Everything that each individual bee does is for the good of the colony."
DiGloria's hives are located at the Garden of Ridvan in Clearwater. Ridvan is an Arabic word and that means paradise.
"At this garden, we provide the land for free for them plus we provide lots of fruit trees over here and lots of flowers... so the bees are really dancing," explained Kamran Rouhani.
Rouhani set up the garden on 20 acres of land in Clearwater for the specific purpose of cultivating fruit trees, flowers and local vegetables and greenery. Honey bees pollinate the plants and trees and are necessary for their health. Beekeepers like DiGloria benefit from that arrangement.
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"Buying local honey from local farmers and knowing where your honey is produced and where it comes is healthy," she said.
Honey may boost the immune system. It is also anti-bacterial, anti-viral and anti-fungal.
However, honey harvesting is typically done in the spring, summer and fall.
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"We like to say that there are three specific times of the year when the bees have enough honey for us to forage for our human supply," said DiGloira. "There is a difference in honey that's produced in this area from season to season. Different kinds of flowers are going to produce different-tasting honey."
There’s also an art to collecting the honey.
"Beehive keepers, they have a white jacket that they put on," Rouhani explained. "The white jacket allows them to look friendly. Red is a sign of danger... black is a sign of a bear... so they (the bees) respond and attack."
Rouhani recommends even the casual walker vising a garden during spring or high pollen times to wear light-colored clothing.
The Garden of Ridvan is located at 2754 Sunset Point Road in Clearwater.
LINK: To see the growing tips and the community events they are sharing, visit the Facebook page at https://www.facebook.com/Garden-of-Ridvan-100586458433417/.
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