Bees make honey at home in Placer County

The perfect place for honey bees to thrive

Roseville, CA – Placer County is known for a variety of agricultural commodities including riceAnd the tangerineand, more recently, wine grapes, but perhaps not so well known is the sheer number of honeybees buzzing about the county’s summer blossoms.

Placer County beekeepers range from small hobby farms with two or three hives to large commercial operations maintaining thousands of hives. An abundance of open space and vegetation, combined with a mild climate, makes Placer County an ideal location for honey bees to thrive.

The amount of honey produced by a beehive depends on multiple variables, but one of the most important is the amount of nectar available to bees from flowering plants. With fewer blooms, a hive may produce 30 to 50 pounds of honey, while a hive with access to ample blooms may produce 70 to 100 pounds of honey or more. (FYI, 1 pound of honey equals just over 10 1/2 fluid ounces.)

honey hunt

Some of the most beneficial flowers to placer county honeybees come from plant species we often find ourselves fighting here in the foothills, like Yellow Star Thistle, Himalayan Blackberry, and Poison Oak (don’t worry, you can’t get poison oak from honey). These plants along with sunflower trees, alfalfa, alfalfa and citrus provide ample nectar for bees to make honey and in fact affect the aroma, flavor and color of the honey. It is not uncommon for beekeepers, especially those with large-scale operations, to move their hives from place to place, including from state to state, chasing flowers for their bees to feed on.

Pollination and reproduction

Although all beekeepers will end up with some honey, honey production is not the main focus of all beekeepers. Some beekeepers specialize in providing pollination services to other farmers, such as almond farmers, while others specialize in raising and selling bees, including the queen bee, that are essential to the vitality of each hive.

There are plenty of good places to buy local honey. Many of our local farmers markets feature local honey, and you may also be able to purchase it directly from some of our beekeepers. You can find their contact information at www.placergrown.org By searching for “honey”.

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