ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. — Hobbies are what bring many people joy in their downtime, and one St. Petersburg man has been participating in his for 70 years now.

80-year-old Derek Lewis is a lifelong beekeeper who now casually sells honey from his home in St. Petersburg.

“I’ve been keeping bees since I was 10. Since 1952,” said Lewis, who grew up in South Africa.

Lewis keeps two honeybee hives in his yard. But he’s also passionate about helping solitary bee varieties thrive throughout St. Petersburg. Lewis helped advise the city on Bee Hotels established in area parks. The structures are meant to provide solitary bees with a place to nest.  

“For healthy food, we need pollinators, and some of these are specialty pollinators that are actually better than honeybees,” Lewis said about solitary bee varieties.

One of the bee hotels can be found in the butterfly garden in Walter Fuller Park and another, installed in July, is located in Riviera Bay Park.