Photo: Kim Tunnicliffe (WBZ NewsRadio)
BOSTON (WBZ NewsRadio) — One Boston-based company is helping to take the sting out of urban beekeeping.
Best Bees, which has headquarters in Boston and a network of over 100 beekeepers in over 20 U.S. cities, installs and maintains beehives in both residential and corporate settings.
Customers range from residents interested in having their own beehives in their backyards to "Fortune 500 companies that have really robust sustainability programs," according to creative director Paige Mulhern.
WBZ NewsRadio's Kim Tunnicliffe observed beekeeper Annie Christie as she inspected and serviced a Malden customer's backyard beehive Tuesday, using a bee smoker to keep the hive calm.
"The most important thing is the queen in any hive," Christie said. "So we just make sure that she is laying well, that her brood looks healthy. We get an idea of what the population looks like. If there aren’t enough bees in the hive, then they can’t keep the brood warm."
Christie also made sure that the bees in the hive had enough resources to stay alive.
"Honey, pollen, it’s the stuff that they use to feed the brood," said Christie. "Pollen is really important in terms of proteins. It also provides them minerals and fats. The honey, on the other hand, has a lot of carbohydrates that are essential for their diet.
Once the beehives are buzzing, Best Bees collects data from the hives and shares it with their research partners to help improve pollinator health.
"All of the information we get allows us to be at the forefront of how to best protect pollinators," said Mulhern.
WBZ's Kim Tunnicliffe (@KimWBZ) reports.
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