5 Reasons to Visit Your Local Black Beekeeper
Did you know, up to 95% of flowering plants rely on insects or animals for pollination? That includes 180,000 different plants and 1,200 crops. In fact, a pollinator created every third bite of food you eat.
Eighty percent of pollination is done by bees which transfer pollen from one plant to another while foraging for food. In the U.S., non-native honeybees are often raised in colonies by beekeepers who provide food, shelter and protection from parasites and predators. They also educate the community about safeguarding wild habitats for 4,000 different species of native bees. They nest underground, in tree hollows, in shrubs and in rotting logs. Unfortunately, highways, roads, skyscrapers and other forms of urbanization threaten their survival by decreasing their access to food, woodlands and meadows.
Supporting your local Black beekeeper is a great way to learn more about the important role of bees in our ecosystem—and how you can help! Here are five reasons why you should plan a visit today.
1. Beekeepers raise non-native honeybees and harvest honey sustainably
Beekeeping is a 10,000-year-old form of agriculture known as apiculture. Today, apiarists—another, more formal name for a beekeeper—provide shelter, food, and other forms of care for cultivated honeybees. Ensuring the queen remains alive and in good health is a focal point of their job.
But don’t think they’re solely responsible! Most beekeepers raise European honeybees which arrived in the 1610s and are not native to the U.S. Meanwhile, there are over 4,000 native bee species. Regardless of where they’re originally from, Beekeeping While Black founder Karyn Bigelow feels that bees deserve respect and support for the role they play in our ecosystem.
“Honeybees can pollinate most crops that can be pollinated, however, they are not as effective as native bees,” said Karyn. “Both are important to our food system.”
Today, many honeybees depend on beekeepers to gather food and keep predators—wasps, birds, and beetles—at bay. Beekeepers replenish their food supply and support them through the colder seasons when food is scarce.
Beekeepers also assist in bee swarming management, a natural reproduction process in which a new queen and a few worker bees are moved to a hive to create a new colony.
A significant benefit for humans is that beekeepers harvest honey sustainably from the hive.
Kamal Bell, founder of Sankofa Farms, gives a tour of his apiary in North Carolina
2. Raw honey has healing properties and other important uses
Honey is more than just a sweetener for coffee or tea. Raw honey is full of antioxidants and has anti-inflammatory and anti-microbial properties. It’s no wonder that honey has been used throughout history to treat coughs, bronchitis, wounds, ulcers and more.
Its nutritional content alone is why people should visit their local beekeeper—calcium, magnesium, manganese, niacin, pantothenic acid, phosphorus, riboflavin, and zinc are just a handful of its widely recognized vitamins and minerals.
Honey is also used to treat seasonal allergies. Locally-harvested honey contains local allergens and can decrease pollen sensitivity.
Bee expert Karyn Bigelow has noticed this throughout her line of work. “People have found it helpful to address allergies,” said Karyn. “Taking honey is like giving yourself a vaccine because you’re exposing yourself to a little bit of pollen throughout the year. Because you’ve been exposed it, it makes it easier to deal with during peak season.”
It is also used to boost immunity, treat digestion, and improve cognitive function.
Vegans and babies experience the most drawbacks to using and consuming raw honey. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) warns against serving honey to children younger than 12 months, since it may contain harmful bacteria that can cause botulism. Vegans have mixed feelings about whether beekeeping practices are ethical. They tend to consume syrup as an alternative sweetener since it’s derived from plants.
3. Discover the history of beekeeping in African American communities
From raising bees to honey harvesting classes, beekeeping has a rich history in Black and African American cultures. Historians have noted that the ‘European’ honey bee was brought to the US three years after enslaved Africans arrived in 1619.
Before the 1890s, Black beekeepers’ contributions to society weren’t as well documented. This changed once the Tuskegee Institute added beekeeping to the school’s mandatory curriculum. Dr. George Washington Carver, Dr. Booker T. Washington, and the founder of The Lady Beekeeper Club, Mrs. Margaret Murray Washington encouraged Black farmers to learn beekeeping skills. Margaret took her work a step further by fighting for beekeeping to be incorporated into women’s vocational programs. Her goal was to help Black women find expanded employment opportunities.
Their combined efforts helped lead to the creation of the Tuskegee University Farmer’s Conference in 1892, a long-standing farming conference in the United States. Today, most states have at least one or two Black beekeepers who are registered with Karyn’s organization, Beekeeping While Black.
To find a Black beekeper in your state, visit The Honey Book directory at beekeepingwhileblack.com.
4. Black beekeepers have become educators and activists in major cities
Beekeeping is not exclusive to America’s rural areas. As it continues to spread to metropolitan cities, beekeepers of color often play two roles: educator and cultivator. Organizations like Detroit Hives educate locals on raw honey’s healing power while transforming empty lots into pollination hubs. After starting National Urban Beekeeping Day, the group formed a youth education program and hosted over forty bee colonies that enhanced nearly 2 million honey bees. They welcome volunteers and bee novices interested in learning the basics of beekeeping.
Apiary in the Sky, based in Newark, NJ, prioritizes beekeeping and education in Black and Brown spaces. They view it as a holistic approach to fostering community wellness and food sovereignty. For local residents, beekeeping is an entry point to learning about food systems. Apiary in the Sky also focuses on strengthening community ties and mental health while it “converts vacant lots into apiaries, urban farms and pollinator gardens” to further their mission.
These are just a few examples of how urban beekeeping, education and activism intertwine.
5. Black beekeepers are protecting pollinators and people
Now more than ever, it’s important to support your local BIPOC beekeeper who is on the frontlines, protecting pollinators and plant species in your area.
One way you can show support is by learning more about beekeeping. “Not only do we need to protect beekeepers, we need more of them as especially as many beekeepers are getting older,” said the founder of Beekeeping While Black, “So we need more people to come into the field.”
Beekeepers don’t just cultivate non-native honeybees, they educate the public about the importance of protecting wild habitats for native bees by planting pollinator gardens, using compost instead of mulch and avoiding pesticides.
Apiarists of color are teaching beekeeping alongside food sovereignty, or the right to healthy, affordable, culturally affirming food. It’s a way of reclaiming food systems from a government that has failed to address the longstanding impact of food apartheid in low-income urban and rural neighborhoods.
Conclusion
We hope we’ve convinced you to visit your local Black beekeeper. They may be closer than you think—even if you live in a major city. Your nearest apiary may be on a rooftop, in a community garden, or at a local farm. There are many ways to get involved from participating in educational programs to volunteering to purchasing honey. Let’s do our part to create ecosystems where bees thrive and where bees and humans thrive together.
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In a perfect world, access to affordable, healthy food would be a basic human right. Unfortunately, across America, food security depends on your zip code. Not all of us live in leafy suburbs close to big-box retailers and grocery stores. Some of us live in food deserts.