Bee City Honeybee Farm,
Cottageville, South Carolina
Bees are only the beginning. Education is front and
center at Bee City where a classroom that seats ninety
includes beekeeping equipment and a glass observation
beehive. Visitors can get a close-up view of workers,
drones and the queen. But be prepared also for an
enclosed nature center featuring a variety of South
Carolina creatures, a water garden where children can
play and an amazing array of domestic and exotic birds
and animals including monkeys, llamas, lemurs,
wallabies and alpacas.
The Bee Cause Project
Ted Dennard, president and founder of the Savannah
Bee Company, has a mission. He intends to donate 1,000
honeybee hives to 1,000 schools around the country. Hives
are already in over 100 schools so he is well on his way.
He established a special non-profit organization called
The Bee Cause Project to provide both the hives and an
accompanying education.
Ted and his colleagues focus on the next generation
and teach the importance of pollination by honeybees for
so much of the food we consume. They emphasize the
connectedness of all living things and strive to instill in school children a respect for honeybees
that will last a lifetime. They encourage the schools that receive their hives without charge to raise
money and donate it to The Bee Cause project so that another school can receive a hive. Nonprofit
schools and educational organizations are awarded observation honeybee hives by completing a
grant application process. Find out much more about this effort at www.thebeecause.org.
The Charleston Area Beekeepers Association
This volunteer organization includes beekeepers,
researchers, hobbyists, and anyone interested in
beekeeping and its benefits. The group has a monthly
meeting on the second Saturday of each month in
Charleston and is planning the Charleston Honey and
Bee Expo to be held April 3, 2016. Details available at
www.charlestonbees.org.
49