MFA: Where The Bees Are

BY MARCIA BIGGS

While the world quarantines at home, the rooftop of the St. Petersburg Museum of Fine Arts never stops buzzing. Nondescript white hive boxes attract over 100,000 honeybees frantically going about their daily deeds of gathering nectar from urban gardens and parks around downtown St. Pete. Upon returning, they deposit the sweet liquid and cap each cell with wax. Some bees attend to the queen bee, others guard the larvae or perform cleanup duties. It’s the never-ending cycle of the secret life of bees.

Installing honeybee hives on the museum rooftop seemed like a natural thing to do, says Julie Wilson, the director of marketing and communications. She credits executive director Kristen Shepherd with bringing the idea with her from Los Angeles when she took over her post three and a half years ago. “It was a goal that she had when she arrived. We have such an abundance of flowering plants here, and Pinellas County is known to have more urban beekeepers than anywhere else in the country, so it just seemed like the right thing to do,” said Wilson.

While visitors won’t be able to get up close with the hives, a few hives can be viewed from the catwalk inside the museum. “Our intention is really to help the community around downtown in terms of pollination - we are surrounded by parks and yard gardens - and we wanted to help people understand that they should not be afraid of bees. They help our ecosystem and they help everyone.”

As both a virtual educational outing and a fun diversion during the time of Covid-19, the museum asked beekeepers Matt and Allison Davis of Noble Nectar Apiaries to present a 40-minute “show and tell” atop the roof. Fully regaled in spacesuit-like jumpsuits, gloves and net headgear, the couple introduced the Facebook Live audience to the museum’s bee colonies, explaining in detail the process of honey-making, the importance of bees in our urban setting, and various often astounding bee fun facts. The video (recorded on Allison’s mobile phone) was such a hit with homebound viewers that within 3 weeks it had captured over 5,300 views.

Questions from the viewers: Isn’t it hot on the roof? How can the bees survive?

Actually, full sun on the roof is not a problem. The bees can actually control the temperature in the hive year-round and 98 to 100 degrees is optimal.

How many bees are there?

Right now, we have 12 colonies on the roof of the museum. The average colony can be 10,000 to 60,000 bees.

How does honey differ? Honey differs depending on the flowers and geographic location of the hive. You can get completely different honey from yards 10 miles apart. Most of the honey you purchase in grocery stores is not raw, they can be blends with high fructose corn syrup. Be sure to purchase from local beekeepers to make sure you are getting real raw honey.

How long will honey last? Honey does not go bad. Some found in Egyptian tombs is still edible. If it crystalizes just warm it up by setting in a warm window or water.

Want some MFA honey? Last year, the first batch of honey from the museum hives was harvested, bottled and sold via the museum store. The next batch will most likely be ready in July or August, Wilson said. Watch the museum’s social media to keep updated or order in advance through the museum’s store web site at mfastpete.org/mfa-store/ (the honey is raw and unfiltered).

To see the rooftop video, go to the Facebook page @noblenectarapiaries and look under the Videos link.