Conservancy of Southwest Florida celebrates National Honeybee Day

When Stephen Gauta noticed many of the fruit trees around his Naples home weren't growing fruit, the teenager hit upon a solution.

"I decided maybe some pollinators would be good, so I've been looking at getting bees," Gauta said.

The 15-year-old aspiring beekeeper got some tips Saturday at the Conservancy of Southwest Florida's Honeybee Hoopla.

Families learned about honeybees and tasted the sweet fruits of their buzzing during the family-friendly event observing National Honeybee Day, which fell on Saturday.

Children and their families created bee-related arts and crafts and heard a special presentation by beekeeper Chris Fenstermaker, who also is the Conservancy's maintenance coordinator.

"I think the honeybee is such a fascinating and important organism. I enjoy learning about them, and so I hope that I can share my knowledge and information with others and inspire them to keep bees or at least understand the importance of them," the 36-year-old said after his presentation inside the Conservancy's theater. 

Fenstermaker spoke to dozens of families about how honeybees pollinate and why they're important to the ecosystem. 

After his presentation, children sampled honey from Fenstermaker's apiary in Golden Gate. 

His presentation sparked a practical question by 6-year-old Gia Boudan: "Where do the bees go potty?" 

Gia said she loves nature and wants to work at the Conservancy just like Fenstermaker when she grows up. 

"So I can take care of the animals," she said. 

Fenstermaker said he started out as a beekeeper in 2005 after learning about the pollinators in college. 

Southwest Florida honeybee population stable, unlike in rest of U.S.

"Honeybees are super important for humans not only because of their honey but because of their pollinating services," he said.

According to a USA TODAY article published in May, 1 in every 3 bites of food is directly or indirectly pollinated by honeybees, which are seeing population declines.

Honeybees pollinate about $15 billion worth of U.S. crops each year. Almonds are completely dependent on honeybee pollination.

What poses the biggest threat to honeybees?

"There's no silver bullet of what the problem is. It's a combination of things," Fenstermaker said.

He attributes it mostly to a parasite called the varroa mite that attacks honeybees and their brood, he said. The mites were introduced into the United States in 1985.