Beyond our hives, we care about the whole pollinator ecosystem in our own Charlotte backyard. Here’s what keeps our bees fed all season, and why bees everywhere need a little help from us.
Flowers Our Bees Love
Charlotte’s Piedmont region keeps our bees busy nearly year-round. Redbud, native azaleas, and spring wildflowers get the season started, and by summer our bees are working bee balm, mountain mint, and butterfly weed. Fall belongs to the aster family — purple coneflower, black-eyed Susan, goldenrod, Joe-Pye weed, and ironweed — which between them can keep something blooming from April clear through November. A steady run of blooms means a steady supply of nectar and pollen, which is exactly what keeps a colony fed and healthy through the seasons.
Right in our own yard, we’ve watched our bees work echinacea, marigolds, blue salvia, zinnias, irises, and day lilies all season long — a few of our favorite shots below.
Why Bees Need Our Help
Bees everywhere are under real pressure. Over the past year, U.S. beekeepers reported losing close to 40% of their managed colonies, with small-scale beekeepers like us hit even harder than commercial operations. Varroa mites are one of the biggest culprits — these tiny parasites weaken bees and spread viruses through a hive, and some mite populations are growing resistant to the treatments beekeepers rely on. Pesticide exposure adds to the strain, since even small doses can make it harder for a bee to forage, fight disease, or raise healthy brood. Climate change is raising the stakes further, bringing droughts, heat waves, and unpredictable weather that shorten blooming seasons and throw off the timing between flowers and the bees that need them.
Here in the Charlotte area, that pressure shows up closer to home, too: as more land gets developed, bees lose both nesting habitat and the variety of food they depend on. It’s a big part of why we try to keep our own yard full of the blooms above — every pollinator-friendly garden nearby gives local bees, ours and our wild neighbors alike, a better shot.
Halo Honey 