Honeybee hives coming to Durham with new project

Leigh Bonner, founder of Bee Downtown, unveils the new observation hive on display at Durham's NC Tobacco Campus.
Leigh Bonner, founder of Bee Downtown, unveils the new observation hive on display at Durham’s American Tobacco Campus.

At Abundance NC, we are all about cultivating community resilience — fostering and supporting projects and movements that strengthen our community’s ability to provide for our own needs and to feed ourselves with local sustainable agriculture.  And what is more central to how we grow our food than bees and other pollinators?

We believe wholeheartedly in Bee Downtown‘s quest to help save the honeybees and other pollinators by educating the people in Durham about colony collapse disorder and the importance of bees to our food security.  They’ve already set up several hives in American Tobacco Campus in Downtown Durham, adding over 120,000 bees to the area!

Today, Bee Downtown unveiled the first permanent observation hive in Durham at Burt’s Bees Headquarters, and officially accepted funding from Burt’s Bee’s Greater Good Foundation to carry out education about Colony Collapse Disorder and cultivating healthy pollinator habitat.  Bee Downtown emphasizes urban beekeeping with a goal of creating a “new swarm of bee enthusiasts” in the area by providing an atmosphere where all ages are passionate and knowledgeable about honey bees.  We are honored to align ourselves with them today.

A crowd gathers to view the new beehive.
A crowd gathers to view the new beehive.
Burt's Bees' message about how you can help pollinators.
Burt’s Bees’ message about how you can help pollinators.

Through Abundance’s fiscal sponsorship program, we provide assistance and nonprofit status to fledgling organizations who want to do something to contribute to a stronger, more sustainable community, but don’t want to have to postpone their work for the months of paperwork, and not insubstantial amounts of money it takes to set up a legal nonprofit organization.  By providing Bee Downtown with the legal nonprofit status they need to start receiving tax exempt donations and grants right away, they can immediately put to use this generous support they are getting today from Burt’s Bees — a natural match for this project, don’t you think?

You can help save pollinators in your community by:

  • planting a bee-friendly garden (such as lavender, rosemary, echinacea, sunflowers, catmint, bee balm, anise hyssop, asters, thyme, and more)
  • supporting local beekeepers in buying local honey
  • by buying local, pesticide-free fruit and vegetables
  • by not using pesticides and herbicides in your landscaping. One of the greatest threats to honeybees and other pollinators is runaway suburban development.

Also, if anyone else wants to donate to help this important new organization, you can do so now, tax free!

Like Bee Downtown on Facebook.

The mission of Bee Downtown.
The mission of Bee Downtown.

 

Leigh Bonner addresses the crowd, explaining the importance of honeybees to the future of food.
Leigh Bonner addresses the crowd, explaining the importance of honeybees to the future of food.