BOOST THE (LOCAL) BUZZ

Earlier this year, Silverbee started supporting a beekeeper organization in the area to help save the honeybee and we were happy to see that a recent White House initiative is working towards the same goal. We are proud we could help get the word out about Sustainable Honeybees in Loudoun County. Read the blog post below and this Washington Post story to learn more about their great work!

Have you ever thought about the bee cause? Probably not, right? When you think about environmental issues and endangered species, the animal that comes to your mind might be a tiger subspecies or the blue whale or maybe another one you frequently hear of, but let’s be honest: we don’t think of the bee. Well, we definitely should, and here’s why: bees are responsible for a third of the food we eat. Declining bee populations pose a serious threat to global agriculture.

While you may not see bees on the official list of endangered species, there has been a massive drop of bee numbers not only in the U.S. but all over the world. National Geographic states that more than half of managed U.S. honeybee colonies have disappeared in the past decade. Therefore, scientists have recently tried to raise more awareness for the pollinator cause. In 2013, the Xerces Society petitioned the Interior Department to consider listing the bumblebee as endangered. Until today, none of the thousands of species of native American bees enjoy Federal protection. According to the Natural Resource Defense Council, the US could lose $15 billion worth of crops, which would have a huge impact on the availability of many beloved fruits and veggies, such as apples, pumpkins and almonds.

The list is long and beekeepers, research entomologists from the USDA, regulators and expert institution scientists from California to Europe are very concerned. Recent studies have found reasons for the disappearance of bees. Pesticides, diseases, changes in the habitat are among them. The need to reverse the decimation of bee populations has never been greater.

As you can guess, and you may have read in our previous post about the name Silverbee, we like bees. They learn, build, communicate, and keep nature alive. We also care about and embrace causes that impact the future. We support the bee cause in the area because it’s vital now and tomorrow.

So we found the Sustainable Honeybee Program in Virginia, a nonprofit organization located at the foot of the Blue Ridge Mountains in Loudoun County, Virginia. Led by certified EAS Master Beekeeper Billy Davis, the program develops a line of honeybees particularly adjusted to the climatic conditions of the area. Billy teaches at the Northern Virginia Teaching Consortium, and shares his knowledge and expertise with beekeeper clubs and individuals through the organization that is all-volunteer based. We hope that with our donations we can help the organization keep up the great work that they are doing and thus, not only enjoy the delicious Virginia honey but also maintain a sustainable flora and fauna in our surrounding. Let’s keep that oh so sweet buzz alive!