BREVARD COUNTY, Fla. – People living in an active adult community near Titusville tell News 6 that their neighborhood has been inundated with bees ever since a honeybee farm began operating across the street last year.
The honeybee farm, known as an apiary, is properly registered with Florida’s agriculture agency. There is no indication the operator is violating any state beekeeping rules.
Residents of Willow Lakes RV and Golf Resort believe honeybees are leaving the apiary and flying a few hundred feet into their community of more than 300 single-family homes and recreational vehicles.
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Since honeybees need water, some residents speculate the insects may be attracted to large ponds in their neighborhood.
“It’s a nuisance,” Kitty Grenier said. “We’re all just overrun with bees.”
Whenever Grenier and her husband step outside their front door, they said they usually see a few honeybees flying around and several dead bees piled up on their driveway.
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But the biggest issue for the Greniers is the sticky yellow substance the bees leave behind on their car, golf cart and patio furniture.
“It’s bee poop,” Kitty Grennier said. “I’m sorry folks, but that’s what it is. It’s the bee poop.”
The yellow spots and streaks seen throughout the Greniers neighborhood resemble honeybee feces depicted on websites like Bees Wiki and PrimeBees.com.
“Every single day I have to go wash the car,” said Richard Grenier, who had to purchase an unlimited membership at a carwash. “If [the bee droppings] stay there more than a day, it’s very hard to scrub it off.”
A few doors down, David Dell wiped yellow stains off the bottom of his shoes.
“Our patio is covered, and that’s after power washing it,” Dell said. “We can’t sit outside.”
Another resident, Gaston Gagner, explained how unsightly bee droppings can be splattered on vertical surfaces like the exterior walls of homes and RVs.
“They’ll stop and they’ll poop, or they fly by and drop poop,” Gagner said.
Several residents have complained of being stung by bees in recent months, including Debbie Sanchez.
“I don’t have a life. I’m sitting here 24/7.” Sanchez said. “I don’t dare go out to the mailbox. I don’t dare go out to the grocery. If I get stung, I can die.”
Sanchez, who is allergic to bee stings, said she was admitted to the hospital twice this summer after stings caused her to have difficulty breathing.
“It’s life and death,” Sanchez said. “I told my kids if anything happens to me, you know what happened. It’s the bees.”
Nathaniel Jester, the honeybee apiary’s president, said there are several other apiaries in northern Brevard County that could also be the source of insects entering Willow Lakes.
“How do you know that they’re my bees? You don’t,” Jester said. “And neither do they.”
The Greniers, who have lived in Willow Lakes for nearly two decades, claim they and their neighbors never had a problem with honeybees until last year when Jester began setting up hives less than 500 feet from their community’s property line.
Jester’s company, JBEE Enterprises LLC, was established in June 2022, state corporation records show.
The company is registered with Florida’s Department of Agriculture as a beekeeping operation and is subject to state inspections. The most recent inspection report provided to News 6 through a public record request after this story published did not note any concerns.
“I’ve had the state inspector here, and she says that [Jester] is doing everything right by the books,” Kitty Grenier said.
Brevard County zoning maps confirm Jester’s apiary is located on a parcel of land designated “agricultural.”
Under Florida’s honeybee law and state rules, beekeepers who set up apiaries on nonagricultural lands, such as residential area backyards, may be required to take measures to contain bees and limit colony size.
Those regulations do not apply to apiaries on agricultural land, including Jester’s operation.
Florida law prohibits local governments, such as Brevard County, from enforcing any ordinances that regulate managed honeybee colonies.
Honeybees pollinate many of the plants humans depend on for food and are critical to Florida’s agriculture industry, according to the Florida Department of Agriculture.
A study conducted by the University of Florida concluded that the state’s beekeeping industry generated more than $93 million in revenue in 2020 and employed nearly 2,500 workers during peak season.
Jester’s apiary is located on property owned by the Pilate Family Trust, county records show. News 6 attempted to contact the trustees and their legal representatives for comment but did not receive a response.
“The old people across the road don’t care about the environment, don’t care about pollinators, don’t care about pollination, don’t care about bees,” Jester said. “They only care about themselves.”
Jester emphasized that his company is separate from a longtime honeybee operation run by other family members located on the same street.
Residents of Willow Lakes claim their community has never had problems with the apiary owned by Jester’s relatives, which has been in operation for more than a decade and sits adjacent to a large pond more than 1,500 feet away from their neighborhood.
“It’s been really great here, except for the last two years when these honeybees have just come in and swarmed this whole resort,” said Richard Grenier.
Jester did not indicate he plans to change the way he operates his apiary in response to neighborhood complaints about bee stings and bee droppings.
“My suggestion is they buy a car cover,” Jester said.
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