The buzz around new year’s resolutions is upon us. We’re sending you a sweet reminder to be gentle with yourself, and to celebrate the work that goes into striving for a goal, regardless of whether or not you perfectly achieve it. After all, it’s about the journey, not the destination.
Here are some of our intentions for 2024:
🌱 Increase biodiversity and improve bee health with new integrated technologies.
🐝 Advance our training protocols and education for our beekeepers.
🌾 Broaden our services to actively support native pollinators, including through habitat creation.
🔬 Publish more research conducted using the data collected from our beehives.
🤝 Partner with other organizations that share our values to expand our ecological and social impact.
We’re excited to get to work and see what this next year will bring!
#newyears #beekeeping #beekeeper #beekeeperlife #greenbiz #environmentalscience #urban beekeeping #corporatebeekeeping #corporatesustainability #resolutions #2024goals #protectthepollinators #nativepollinators
Now that most of our beehives are are consolidated for warmth, it’s time to fully prepare them for winter! Join Boston beekeeper Annie as they tuck this hive in for the cold weather ahead. Here’s how we winterize beehives:
❄️ Step 1: Add a layer of insulation on top of the inner cover, underneath the roof of the hive.
❄️ Step 2: Provide supplemental feed to bolster the hive’s existing honey stores.
❄️ Step 3: Treat for Varroa mites if necessary – it’s important to make sure the mite population is under control as the bees go into the winter, so that they aren’t overtaken in the spring.
We’ll also seal up any cracks in the exterior of the hive with tape, but this hive didn’t need any help in that area! These bees are all set up for the coming cold months. Thanks for watching and stay warm!
#beekeeping #beekeeperlife #urbanbeekeeping #corporatebeekeeping #greenbiz #protectthepollinators #pollinatorhealth #winterbeekeeping #winterbeehive
This Thanksgiving, we’d like to express our gratitude for our incredible beekeepers! They are the backbone of our whole operation. From collecting data, to treating for mites, to harvesting honey, our beekeepers were as busy as the bees they care for this year.
We also want to thank our clients for having joined us for the 2023 beekeeping season! Each hive is a data point, and we’re very thankful for those who decided to join the Best Bees network. Our beekeepers across the country are looking forward to what the 2024 season will bring!
#beekeeper #beekeeperlife #urbanbeekeeper #urbanbeekeeping #beekeeping #corporatesustainability #thanksgiving #corporatebeekeeping
The Haas Business School at UC Berkeley is part of a larger whole, but it has its own ambitious sustainability goals and programs. In doing so, Haas takes advantage of the unique opportunity it has to inspire today’s business leaders – and those of the future – to prioritize nature, biodiversity, and keep sustainability at the core of their business practices.
Don’t miss out on our The Business of Biodiversity with Berkeley Haas webinar on Friday, November 17th, at 1pm EST!
Our own Nola Oner will be joined by Danner Doud-Martin, the Director of Campus Sustainability at UC Berkeley Haas School of Business, to talk about Haas’ sustainability goals and how their Best Bees beehives serve as a focal point for their nature and biodiversity-focused sustainability initiatives.
Register here: https://bestbees.com/bestbees-berkeleyhaas-webinar/
#greenbiz #corporatesustainability #corporatesocialresponsibility #csr #sustainabilityeducation #biodiversity #natureimpact #urbanbeekeeping #corporatebeekeeping #sustainablebusiness
What do honey bees do in the winter, and how do we as beekeepers help prepare them for the cold months?
Pumpkins and skeletons and ghosts, oh my! We’re just past Halloween now, and that means winter is creeping up on us. Our beekeepers have been busy with the first stage of winter preparations: consolidation.
Consolidation is when we downsize the hive and optimize the frames within the boxes for insulation and resources. Doing so makes it easier for the colony to keep their hive warm and cozy through the winter.
Honey bees don’t hibernate over the winter. Instead, the workers huddle together around the queen and create warmth by fluttering their wings and shaking their bodies.
With varying winter temperatures and weather happening across the country, each of our regions has a specific set of plans for winter hive preparation. What questions do you have about bees in the winter?
This summer we conducted our second annual Monarch Butterfly Initiative out of our Boston HQ! These butterflies contribute to ongoing research and monitoring of the monarch butterflies’ yearly migration to Mexico!
In partnership with @monarch_watch, we were able to carefully monitor these beauties from larva to butterfly! Once fully developed, each individual butterfly is tagged with a unique code that conveys information about where and when the butterfly was released if it is later recaptured in Mexico.
Improving pollinator health is hard work and we’re grateful for our Boston teams’ time and dedication to learning more about this vital pollinator species and how to protect them. Plus our HQ is now a registered Monarch Waystation! Our garden will always provide the milkweed and wildflowers necessary for monarchs to reproduce and sustain their migration.
#monarchbutterflies #monarchbutterfly #monarchmigration #monarchwatch #nativepollinators #milkweed #consciousbusiness #corporatesustainability #environmentalscience #protectthepollinators #protecttheplanet #pollinatorhabitat
Harvesting season is upon us! As we approach the fall, we consolidate boxes and frames to match the population levels of the hive. The bees don’t slow down their honey production as their space gets smaller, so this is prime time to harvest that extra honey and make sure the bees don’t run out of room!
We always make sure to leave multiple frames of honey in the hive. This is because the bees need to have enough honey stored to eat during the winter when they can’t leave the hive. Prioritizing the health of the bees means making sure we only take any excess honey they produce.
Sometimes, a hive doesn’t end up producing extra honey, or even enough honey for themselves. It’s hard to predict whether or not we’ll be able to harvest from a hive due to many factors, such as:
🐝 Hive population health
🐝 Weather patterns and climate conditions
🐝 Forage availability
At the end of the day, we want our bees to be happy, healthy, and set up for success. By putting bee health first, we keep our harvesting practices ethical and sustainable.
#beekeeping #beekeeper #beekeeperlife #honey #greenbiz #corporatebeekeeping #corporate sustainability #sustainability #protecttheplanet
Happy National Honey Month!
Happy National Honey Month! Did you know that the color and taste of honey varies depending on the pollen and nectar the bees foraged to produce it?
Since different plants bloom at different times of the year, the characteristics of honey from the exact same hive varies depending on the season. Nectar is 70% water, and honey is between 15.5% and 18.6% water. This is why honey is so much more flavorful than nectar itself; honey is super concentrated nectar, letting the flavor really shine.
Clover honey tends to be lighter in color, and the taste is lightly floral and sweet. Eucalyptus honey has a hint of menthol to its flavor profile, making it a great option to stir into herbal tea. Buckwheat honey has a very bold, earthy flavor, and has a dark color – almost like molasses.
For more information about the varieties of honey, check out our blog post “15 Types Of Honey And How To Taste The Difference”! https://bestbees.com/2022/10/26/types-of-honey/
#honey #honeytasting #beekeeping #beekeeperlife #urbanbeekeeping #corporatesustainability #greenbiz #honeybees #nationalhoneymonth #beekeeper
People are starting to talk about native bees, and we are here for it! There are over 20,000 species of native bees, and many of those need our protection.
We use our national network of data-yielding beehives to monitor and understand the status of pollinator health and biodiversity levels of our environment. This allows us to leverage honey bees as the keystone indicator species that they are.
An indicator species, also known as a bioindicator, reflects the health of their environment and reacts to environmental changes in a measurable way. Native bees are typically solitary insects, making them extremely difficult to study and monitor at scale. Our research honey bee hives grant us insight into the challenges that all pollinators are facing, and how we can help.
We hope that the news around honey bees and native pollinators advances the conversation around supporting our planet and the ecosystems needed for all plants, pollinators, animals, and people to thrive.
Join our research network of beehives to be a part of the movement to protect and promote pollinator health, and educate yourself about the many native bees that need our protection by checking out “The Bee: A Natural History”, written by our very own Noah Wilson-Rich - available here: https://bestbees.com/shop/the-bee-a-natural-history/
What’s your favorite native bee? Let us know in the comments! 🐝
You asked, we answered: more Julius content. Join our charismatic beekeeper on a route where he shares his beekeeping process with us. Not too much, though – he’s got to keep some tricks up his sleeve, after all!
Thanks again to @bxpbostonproperties for letting us feature their happy, busy bees!
What is a nectar dearth, exactly? A nectar dearth is the period of time when nectar is extremely limited, because few flowers are blooming. The summer nectar dearth is the hot and dry period after the last of the spring flowers stop blooming and before the fall flowers start. The timing varies depending on your region; the weather can also influence the timing and intensity of the nectar dearth. Best Bees Horticulturist, Renee Gervais, takes us into her garden and gives us pointers on what to plant to support the bees during the nectar dearth, as well as how to help your flowers bloom for as long as possible. #summergardening #growyourfood #raisedbedgarden #eatwhatyougrow #organicgardener #summergardening #gardenfresh #fallgarden #thehappygardeninglife #flowerfarmer #fromthegarden #fortheloveofflowers #flowersmakemehappy #flowersofig #nectarcollector #honeybeehive #beehoney #beepollen #sweetnectar #backvardnature #beesareawesome #beehives #backyardbeekeeping #sustainablebusiness #beekeep #beelovers #beeswarm #lovebees #ilovebees #savebees
Professional beekeeping services bring pollinators to your property, boosting the health of your local ecosystem and improving the biodiversity of your area. 🌼🌿However, the fun doesn’t stop there. You can enhance your beekeeping services with these sweet additions to augment your impact and enrich your engagement opportunities: 🐝 Events 🐝 Advanced Reporting 🐝 Apothecary Products 🐝 & more!Go to our website to schedule a call with our team of experts! #greenbiz #sustainability #savebees #sustainabilitygoals#sustainabilityeducation #protectearth #greenliving#environmentalsustainability #sustainablefutures#saveourplanet #ecoconscious #biodiversity#environmentalprotection #protecttheplanet #ecowarriors#corporatesustainability #esg #savebeeseu#environmentalfriendly
Support LGBT-Inclusive Education With Our LGBTQIA+ Shirts!
The majority of our hive identifies as LGBTQIA+. We honor and stand with our trans community this month and every month. 🏳️⚧️
Currently, the ACLU is tracking 491 anti-LGBTQ bills in the U.S. that target the trans community, and according to Human Rights Campaign , 30% of transgender youth live in states that have passed bans on gender-affirming care.
We've added an easy way to donate to PRISM with your purchase of our LGBTQIA+ shirt! PRISM is a youth-led nonprofit that works to expand access to LGBT-inclusive education and sexual health resources for young people in South Florida, with every purchase of our LGBTQIA+ Shirt.
Shop the tee at this link, and share a trans rights organization that you love in the comments below. https://bit.ly/3xZgorY
A Beekeepers Life!
Things are getting busy in the field, and we're taking you along! 👋During this time of the year, our beekeepers are continuing to check on the overall health of hives on routes and add additional boxes to growing hives where needed.
Here's a behind-the-scenes look from Beekeeper Julius at the hives we manage for BXP, the largest publicly traded developer in the United States! Does your business want to strengthen its sustainability strategy and make a real impact on pollinator health? Send us a message to get started!
Happy Pride Month!
We're celebrating pride all year round at Best Bees! 🌈We're so proud to be a gay-owned business and to be certified as an LGBT Business Enterprise by NGLCC - The National LGBT Chamber of Commerce.
Our team is made up of a group of dedicated, unique, inclusive, funny, and passionate humans. We love our jobs because of what we get to do, but also who we get to do it with, and will always be a safe space for the LG🐝TQIA+ community.
What does Pride Month mean to you?
Bees & Biodiversity
As a team that’s committed to improving the health of pollinators worldwide, we’re excited to hear the growing conversations about how we can help bees the most. 🐝The rise of urban beekeeping has allowed us to understand how bees and other pollinators thrive in city settings, and it’s also led to a discussion about competition with native bees. Here’s our data-focused take on it!
We understand that competition can happen—but only when food resources are limited, and that’s why we are working to transform these normally “grey” urban spaces into places where all pollinators can thrive. By providing clients with data-backed plant lists, encouraging corporate buildings to welcome green rooftops, and even urging our local government to make space for those green spaces, we're working to help our cities move toward a future that welcomes all pollinators.
The answer to true biodiversity doesn’t lie in omitting a pollinator like honey bees from the conversation. It comes from understanding our research that proves the most impactful way to increase biodiversity and improve pollinator health starts with a complete transformation of our cities’ landscapes.
A Day in the Life of Best Bees Beekeeper, Ronnie!
Best Bees Beekeeper and Data Analyst Ronnie is giving you an inside look at a day in the life of a beekeeper! 🐝Come with us on his recent route to install a nucleus colony and let us know: have you ever wanted to become a beekeeper?
Happy World Bee Day!
Happy World Bee Day! 🐝 It's a no-brainer that we love bees, and this year we want to remind everyone to show appreciation for all bees, not just the honey kind. Did you know that there are an estimated 20,000 types of bees?
We asked our team what their favorite thing about working with bees is. Tell us what World Bee Day means to you in the comments! #WorldBeeDay #Beekeepers #SaveTheBees
We're pretty sure that nothing beats that one core memory you always love to look back on with your mom. 💛 This year, Best Bees LA Beekeeper Carrie is showing her son the amazing things that pollinators do for us. Happy Mother's Day!
Installing a Beehive in California
The 2023 beekeeping season has arrived in the Golden State! ☀️Come with our California team as they woke up in the early hours of the day to welcome the nucleus colonies and install hives in Los Angeles.
While inadvertent weather conditions kept us on our toes for the start of the beekeeping season in California, we are ecstatic to bring these data-yielding beehives to clients on the West Coast. Learn more about having your own beehive and make an impact with us here: https://bit.ly/3YJ3Dg1
