Interview with Michael Leidner of South Texas Apiaries LLC.
1) Your Associate membership in LSBA is under the name “South Texas Apiaries”. Could you tell us a little bit more about your business and what you have to offer?
South Texas Apiaries, LLC is location in Orange Grove, TX at the intersection of the Coastal Plains and South Texas Brush Country. We produce local honey from a variety of plants, including guajillo and mesquite. We provide bee hives to customers in the Coastal Bend desiring AG evaluation for tax purposes. Additionally, South Texas Apiaries performs professional live bee removal services.
2) Where are you located? How big an impact does your location have on your business?
Jim Wells county, just outside of Corpus Christi. Location plays an important role in our business. We make very unique honey that is highly desirable. We are only 100 miles from the first county in the country (Hidalgo) to have Africanized Honey Bees discovered in it. Our local bees carry the same stigma as the bees that “invaded” the US.
3) Are you focused on local nectar flows, or do you spread out wider than that?
Yes. We focus on local nectar, specifically our early spring flow, which contains a large percentage of guajillo nectar. Our flows are very dependent on rainfall and we are able to move bees around as necessary to chase local and regional flows.
4) How did you originally get into beekeeping?
I have a degree in biology and have always loved nature. Things that grow fascinate me. Beekeeping was an extension of this passion and an opportunity for a small hobby farm. Eventually what started as a hobby, grew into a small business.
5) If you could give new beekeepers just one piece of advice early on, what would it be?
Read “Tools for Varroa Management” by the Honey Bee Health Coalition and “Fat Bees, Skinny Bees”. These two free resources and any off the shelf beekeeping book will take you further than you could ever hope in your beekeeping endeavors.
6) Given your work with removals, tell us a little bit about feral bees in your area. Are the genetics you encounter in removals suitable for management, or do you recommend requeening?
I do not recommend keeping our feral bees to anyone with less than a few years experience or anyone in close proximity to neighbors. I do keep some of our feral stock, however all of these colonies are half a mile or more from any inhabited structure. These bees have a very high disposition to aggression, 20% or more of the colonies I encounter are overly aggressive. Every year someone in South Texas is killed by unmanaged feral bees. Some of these bees make great amounts of honey and some are fairly mite resistant. However, neither of these attributes is expected in a predictable pattern or worth the risk. I will not move managed bees near the general public, unless they have been requeened for two months or more. I highly recommend requeening any and all feral bees as soon as possible, as these bees are not worth the risk.
7) You seem fairly actively available at the local farmers markets. How big a role does this play in your business?
I enjoy farmers markets. They are a great place to meet and talk to people. I get many contacts for bee removals and am able to move enough honey to make it worth the time. They definitely have a place in the future of South Texas Apiaries.
8) What is your most popular product? Do you find that bottle/package/label selection plays a significant role in your sales or is it all about the honey?
Far and away it is our spring honey. Many plants are blooming at this time, but what we see the bees visiting most is guajillo. This honey is super light in color and flavor. I like a taller bottle that shows off the honey, but I offer free samples and I think the honey really sells itself.
9) I know you are also active in the leadership of your local club, Coastal Bend Beekeepers Association. What is your role there currently?
I am the Vice President and have been for nearly two years now.
10) In your opinion, what is the biggest unfulfilled need in the Texas beekeeping community at the moment?
I believe there is a lack of general beekeeping as well as bee health and nutrition research at the state level. We have a bee lab that is focused on pesticides that we as beekeepers can do nothing about. I want to know about the protein content of types of pollen. I want a state wide nectar flow chart. I want to know preferred sources of nectar and pollen. There is much that can be done in this great state.
11) You were one of the earliest associate members of Lone Star Beekeepers Assocation. What prompted you to join LSBA?
Texas beekeepers have long suffered from a lack of representation at the state level. I saw how LSBA was set up and organized and saw a bright future for Texas beekeepers.