Re: Bees in Cohousing?
From: John Beutler (jabeutlercomcast.net)
Date: Sat, 19 Oct 2013 04:57:19 -0700 (PDT)
We've found that the bees are just too busy to participate fully in community. They hive their own......seriously though we had a couple of new hives this year under Ann's direction, but the Small Hive Beetle overwhelmed them and they flew the coop. In our region, apparently, there is not enough nectar to give very good production of honey, according to the local beekeepers, so feeding them sugar is important to keep a strong hive.

Cheers

JAB (Liberty Village Cohousing, Frederick, MD)

On 10/18/2013 2:34 PM, Michael Barrett wrote:
In that many cohousing communities have words in their founding documents
aligned to a " protect nature, tread lightly, save the planet" axis, I'm
wondering how many communities keep managed honey bee colonies (hives) as a
community or private enterprise.

At Shadowlake Village at present we have 8 hives (and 3 beekeepers) and are
approaching our third winter with bees. Before starting, with two bee
keepers and three hives in 2011, some of us were dismayed to face
significant opposition from a few concerned community members. However this
was peacefully resolved, and since then everyone has come to appreciate, or
at least tolerate, our tiny furry workers as they go about their business.
And the "very local" honey seems to be hugely appreciated.

Michael Barrett - at Shadowlake village, Blacksburg, Virginia, where the
bees are almost done packing away their winter larders.
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