{"version":1,"type":"rich","provider_name":"Libsyn","provider_url":"https:\/\/www.libsyn.com","height":90,"width":600,"title":"March is Orange Blossom Month","description":"Season 7 Episode 12: About Bees, Culture & Curiosity Podcast \u2013 March is Orange Blossom Month    Orange Groves, Honey Bees, and a Vanishing Industry Orange blossom honey begins in the groves\u2014but those groves are disappearing. In this episode, beekeeper and writer Ron Miksha explores the history, biology, and quiet decline of North America\u2019s citrus landscape. From Florida\u2019s once-million acres of orange trees to today\u2019s shrinking groves, this is the story of bees, nectar, and a changing agricultural world. We begin with a simple question: why do oranges grow in groves, not orchards? From there, the episode moves into the ecology of citrus flowers\u2014how they produce nectar, how bees detect scent compounds like linalool and geraniol, and how entire colonies mobilize during bloom. Along the way, we examine the numbers behind orange blossom honey production, including how a single acre can produce enormous nectar potential\u2014but rarely does. We also look at the realities facing modern citrus: urban expansion, climate pressures, and the devastating effects of citrus greening disease spread by the Asian citrus psyllid. This episode blends personal experience, ecology, and history\u2014from 1970s Florida bee yards to today\u2019s fragmented groves. It\u2019s a story about honey, yes\u2014but also about landscape change, risk, and the uncertain future of beekeeping in citrus country. Recorded in Calgary, Alberta, Canada in March 2026.  orange blossom honey citrus groves Florida honey bees citrus pollination how orange blossom honey is made citrus bloom beekeeping Please subscribe, like, love, and follow. We live or die by your adulation.   Podcast website: https:\/\/sites.libsyn.com\/540327\/site About Ron Miksha: https:\/\/about-bees.org\/about-ron\/ Finally: email your questions, comments, and angst:  miksha@gmail.com ","author_name":"About Bees, Culture & Curiosity","author_url":"https:\/\/sites.libsyn.com\/540327","html":"