BREVARD COUNTY, Fla. — Honeybee colonies continue to be in danger, as a significant number of their population has perished over the past few years.

What You Need To Know

  • Honeybees are in danger of pesticides and other insects

  • That's why Alexandra Bangos and her father do what they can to help

  • With their Greek's Bees, they also education children about their honey-making friends

Beekeeper Alexandra Bangos, who says bees are her thing, is working hard to sustain them while educating children about the importance of bees.

Bangos and her dad George are beekeepers who run Greek’s Bees in Indialantic.

They got into it as hobbyists five years ago. Bangos graduated from the University of Central Florida and wasn’t sure what to do next.

So, she teamed up with her father and now they are looking to go commercial.

“Truly to us, the most beneficial part is how every single day we go out in these hives, we see something we’ve never seen before, we learn something new, we go home and we have to research something new. There’s just endless possibilities,” Bangos said.

The pair have honeybee hives scattered across Brevard County. Their work, like so many other stewards of bees, is critical to their survival.

According to the World Animal Foundation, there has been a significant decline in the honeybee population over the past few years because of pesticides and pollution, along with other threats like insects that eat their food.

“There are a lot of things that are putting honeybee health in danger, Varroa mites, we have small hive beetles, that’s something we are working year-round to minimize,” Bangos said.

Education is big for these beekeepers. The pair recently spoke to second graders at West Melbourne Elementary School for Science. Some of the students are also part of the garden club.

Samriddhi Joshi couldn’t contain her excitement.

“I’ve never seen bees before! Ok, I need to catch up!,” she said as she ran to the garden.

The kids used tablets to document bees in their garden and got to see them up close in a glass container. They also got to taste the honey the bees created.

Bangos said it is gratifying that the children were eager to learn.

“To know these kids are doing something for our bees and all the bees around here with this garden is so exciting for us,” she said.

Greek’s Bees is also working toward becoming certified queen breeders so they can help other beekeepers increase their colonies.