PEOPLE OF INTEREST
BY KERRY FIRTH
80
THE BEEKEEPER
Dana Fisher dons her beekeeper suit to harvest honey in her backyard apiary.
butterfly is for butterflies,” Fisher said.
“Because honey bees are a managed
species, they are surviving quite well.
I’m more concerned about native bees
that only pollinate one special plant.
“If you grow a garden and you want
squash, only specific bees will pollinate
squash. If that bee doesn’t have
enough habitat in your area, you won’t
have very many squash. People need to
remember the monoculture of rolling
green lawns destroys and interrupts
the habitat for all native pollinators. A
lot of bees live underground so fertilizer
ANTHONY INSWASTY PHOTOS
that soaks into the ground kills
them. All bees need a natural habitat
and by stripping the native vegetation,
we are threatening their existence. It
seems like people have lost balance in
working with nature.”
While Fisher enjoys working with
her little buzzing pets, most people
tend to panic if they find a swarm of
bees nesting in their eaves or attics. A
state registered beekeeper can do a live
removal or if you just want them gone
or have an allergy to them and you
simply can’t live with them anymore,
Dana Fisher has a thirst for knowledge,
so when she noticed that
the fruit trees in her yard weren’t
producing good fruit and she wasn’t
able to grow vegetables, she did some
research and found it was a lack of pollinators
in general.
Her research revealed that honey bees
were very efficient pollinators primarily
because they have the big numbers and
can pollinate a lot faster than the native
bees and the nighttime pollinators like
bats and moths. Always one to take action,
she set about learning all she could
about beekeeping and set up her own
backyard apiary.
Her hobby turned into her passion
and it wasn’t long before she joined
Treasure Coast Beekeepers, a nonprofit
organization that provides education
about bees and beekeeping. Her goal
was to learn more about beekeeping
and to share her experiences with other
bee hobbyists. She also enrolled in a
master beekeeper program at the University
of Florida.
Now, four years later, she is president
of the organization that has between 60-
100 members. Members meet on the third
Wednesday of every month at 7 p.m. at
the IFAS Hurricane House, 8350 Picos
Road, in Fort Pierce to share information
and knowledge about their hobby.
Taking it a step further, Fisher owns
and operates Monarda Apiary, a beekeeping
supply store geared to backyard
beekeeping and hobbyists. She has
an online store at www.monardaapiary.
com and a small shop in her backyard.
“If you are a beekeeper or want to
learn about beekeeping, I probably have
something out there to help. I have
things like hive boxes, beekeeper suits,
smokers and stuff to process honey. I
process honey and sell it as well.”
According to Fisher, honey bees are
the most prevalent on the Treasure
Coast and the darlings of most beekeepers.
Native bees are more solitary and
many are ground dwellers or so small
that you can’t see them unless they
actually light on a flower and you are
looking at it. The native bees range in
size from as tiny as a gnat to about the
size of a bumble bee.
“Honey bees are the ambassadors
for pollinators, just like the monarch
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/www.monardaapiary
