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Sustainability. Accountability. Hope. Earth Day is a time to reflect on how our actions affect the environment around us, and how we as humans can do good for our earth. This day holds a special place in our hearts - everything we do revolves around the honeybee, and without a healthy ecosystem, we'd lose our mighty little pollinators.
In our Eastern Shore Apiary, we work hard (sometimes too hard!) to maintain the local ecosystem. Before our apiary occupied the land, it was used as a commercial farm. Soybeans and corn grew here, as is the case across most of the Eastern Shore; this monoculture farming drastically reduced the local biodiversity on our section of Kent Island.
Celebrating Our Planet with the Honeybee
Additionally, the coastline of our farm was in very bad shape. Before we started operations here, we rebuilt the shore with buffer material - now, our own little sandy beaches and barricades of marsh plants protect the apiary from further erosion. We then tackled the problems that commercial farming had caused by replanting native flora. This fortified the soil and replaced nutrients and biomass that had been lost over the years.
While we continuously maintain our land with the help of beekeepers and ecologists, it is becoming more and more difficult. Our Summers are getting dryer and hotter, which makes it harder for us to ensure that there will be a steady supply of wildflowers in bloom for our bees to pollinate. Warm spells through February and March wake up our hives, which then perish after freezing weather rapidly returns.
To combat this, we add new hives annually, to replace what was lost over the Winter. We're also expanding where we keep bees, giving us more diversity in our honey production! The weather is out of our control - there's no denying that. But, besides expanding our beekeeping efforts, we do so much more to be good stewards to the land.
How We Help
At Bee Inspired, we're dedicated to being a force of good. In addition to our work in our Apiary, we strive to create goods that bring nature into all aspects of everyday life while inspiring your inner beauty. In creating our products, we choose ingredients and practices that are as close to the Earth as possible. From harvesting our own lavender to purchasing responsibly-sourced materials from vendors, we aim to create products that are good for you and the environment.
Our glass and plastic jars, along with their lids, are recyclable and reusable. Use our Honey jars to store dry goods, craft supplies, or q-tips. Or, use them to start seedlings for your garden. The plastic tubes used in our traveler sets are also recyclable, and the muslin bags used to pack our Soaps, gift sets, and Lollipops are perfect for housing makeup or toiletries for your travels. Use the stoneware vessels from our Hex Hive Candle as a home for houseplants, or to store utensils in the kitchen.
In addition to this, we're making an effort to greatly reduce the amount of plastic used in our packaging and shipping materials - as of 2021, we've introduced almost completely recyclable/compostable shipping boxes for our products. For safety and health reasons, we do need to continue the use of plastics for heat-sealing cosmetics and edible products but are looking to move to compostable options as we scale.
You can read more about our story and how we give back here.
Little Steps with a Big Impact
- Support bees and other pollinators in your community by planting a pollinator garden.
- Eliminate pesticide use to protect native pollinators and water sources.
- Do your best to lower your carbon footprint. Walk a little more, drive a little less.
- Conserve energy where you can, and support clean energy where possible.
- Eat whole organic food found in local markets and support your community farmers and makers.
- Recycle what you can - programs like TerraCycle allow you to recycle much of your waste!
April is such a busy time of the year for us. The bee season starts back up after months of near-dormancy. We celebrate Easter and Passover, and prepare for the Mother's Day rush. It would be easy for us to overlook Earth Day, with all the work happening in our hive. But, sustainability and ecology are at the core of what we do. We believe in making a difference - and we hope that you do, too.
