Minnesota is one of the top honey producers in the United States, which is likely due to the state’s climate. Jessica Helgen, the program director for University of Minnesota’s Bee Squad, said there are over 500 species of bees in the state with the nonnative honeybee as one of them.

“There are actually more than 500 species of bees in Minnesota, which is really amazing,” she said. “[Honeybees] are really important for agriculture, honey production, [and] hobby beekeepers.”

The buzz, of course, is the insect’s ability to produce honey. Helgen explained the state’s climate is perfect for the yellow and black insects.

“We are pretty lucky in Minnesota that we have these long summer days with great temperatures for bees,” she said. “It does need to be 50-55 degrees for the bees to be flying.”

A beekeeper’s honey harvest is dependent on the weather, which may determine the nectar flow from nearby habitats for the insects to produce honey.

“There are some plants that produce more nectar when they are underneath a mild drought,” Helgen said. “But if everything is so dried out and so parched; nothing is flowering and blooming then you also will not get a good honey harvest.”

Helgen also said cold and wet springs may lead to a slow increase of honeybees to collect nectar from plant life.

“That means colonies are really slow to buildup in the spring,” she said. “They don’t have the big population that they need to collect all of this nectar.”

Mark Schreiter is a beekeeper in Rochester with two hives on his property. He has roughly 45,000 honeybees and lately the hive is buzzing with excitement. Two of his honey supers are almost full on his north hive.

“The north hive is really going like gangbusters,” he said. “Two of the honey supers are about 80 to 90 percent full, which translates to 50 pounds of honey.”

Helgen said typically the bottom honey supers are separated by a queen excluder which secludes the queen from the upper supers. The honey produced in the bottom supers are untouched and act as a food supply for the honeybees throughout the winter.

Schreiter said his honey production is on track to, at least, tie his largest honey harvest that happened two years ago. He had plenty to share with his friends and neighbors.

“I got about 50 pounds of honey primarily off of one hive,” Schreiter said. “I made a lot of friends happy giving away honey.”

Helgen said it is difficult to predict how a beekeeper’s honey harvest will be depending on the weather each year. Beekeepers may also harvest honey throughout the summer until early September.