Top Beekeeping States: Which Ones Take the Lead?
Many people find beekeeping fascinating. It reveals the amazing world of bees, their teamwork, and their crucial role in pollination. Plus, you get to enjoy delicious honey. In celebration of…
Many people find beekeeping fascinating. It reveals the amazing world of bees, their teamwork, and their crucial role in pollination. Plus, you get to enjoy delicious honey.
In celebration of World Bee Day on May 20, Lawn Love ranked the Best States for Beekeeping. To come up with their ranking, they compared 39 of the 50 states (with available data) based on four categories. They looked at honey production, colony loss, and apiculture classes, among 15 total metrics. It is worth noting that only 39 states were ranked.
Top Ranked States
California, New York, and Texas, some of the more populated states in the nation, secured the top spots in their ranking as thriving apicultural hubs. Surprisingly, North Dakota, known for its honey production, claimed the third spot, surpassing even California by producing 31,200 pounds of honey in 2022, nearly three times the amount found in the study.
Meanwhile, Utah didn't fare too well in their ranking, coming in last alongside Arizona (#38) and Wyoming. The site mentioned that Utah faces challenges like high total annual colony loss, low beekeeper salaries, and a lack of bee-friendly legislation. Across the board, these three states received low scores.
Other Notable States
Florida stands out in the Top 10, securing the #7 spot with some of the most honey-producing colonies and the highest honey production value. Meanwhile, falling in the Top 20 is Michigan at #11. When it comes to the key metrics, the state scored well on the number of apiculture classes and the number of honey suppliers.
Behind The Ranking
The site determined the factors (metrics) that are most relevant to rank the Best States for Beekeeping. They then considered the importance of each factor and gave them specific weights. These factors were then grouped into four categories: Output, Earning Potential, Distribution, and Support.
After gathering data on each factor for all 50 states, they eliminated 11 states that lacked sufficient data in a single category. This meticulous process resulted in a final sample size of 39 states.
You can check out the complete study and rankings right here.
5 Plants That Will Make Your Garden Smell
Plants don't always give off beautiful floral aromas, scents, and smells. There are plants that give off unpleasant smells that could stink up your garden. Most plants give off produce scents to lure in pollinators and repel predators.
Bees and butterflies are drawn to your garden by sweet scents from fragrant flowers. Plants with foul odors smell this way to attract flies and beetles which normally lay their eggs in feces and rotting materials.
With the gardening season around the corner, you may want to consider avoiding putting these plants in your garden.
Here are five plants that can smell up your garden.
Crown Imperial Plants
Getty ImagesThe flowers have a potent, musky scent almost like a skunk, which deters rodents and voles as well as squirrels and deer from the garden. Crown imperial plants are native to Asia and the Middle East. They come in These flowers come in shades of red, orange, and yellow.
Stinking Corpse Lily
Getty ImagesThe flower has a large central opening surrounded by petal-like structures and can grow huge, weighing up to 24 pounds. Also known as the rafflesia arnoldii, which smells and even looks like a rotting carcass.
Carrion Flower
Getty ImagesThese flowers are often pollinated by flies and other insects that are attracted to the smell of decay. The most common odors describe it as smelling like a rotting animal, a dead mouse, foul, and sulfur-like during flowering.
Skunk Cabbage
Getty ImagesSkunk Cabbages get their name from the fact they produce a smell of rotting meat or skunk when their leaves are bruised or crushed. While the smell may be unpleasant, the odor can help keep pests away and attract beneficial pollinators including bees and butterflies.
Corpse Flower
Getty ImagesThis flower is far from sweet. The United States Botanic Garden says its the worst-smelling flower in the world. Also known as the titan arum, some people compare its smell to a stinking corpse or rotting flesh.
