Local club protects honeybees

For members of the Lewes Beekeeping Club, the message to act now to preserve honeybees was received loud and clear. 

"We need our bees in a desperate kind of way," said Denise Bridgens, Lewes Beekeeping Club president. "They are key to the well-being of our community, and we're losing them."

Honeybees play a crucial role in the food chain, pollinating up to 30 percent of the foods people eat, including strawberries, blueberries, apples and cucumbers. Yet, populations have declined because of habitat loss, colony collapse, parasites and pesticides. To aid in its efforts to educate the community and enlist them in protecting bees, the club recently launched a new website, www.Lewesbees.org, that is chock-full of educational tidbits on how people can help protect bees.

The club has worked hard since its inception in 2016 to teach the art and science of beekeeping by ensuring the health of its hives and fostering an appreciation for the importance of bees and pollinators through education and community outreach.

At the start, several members of the University of Delaware’s Osher Lifelong Learning Institute got together to learn just how valuable beekeeping is in the local environment. After researching and understanding the urgency, they were inspired to act. Club members have presented education programs at the Lewes Historical Society’s Sweet and Salvaged event, at Lewes Public Library and at H.O. Brittingham Elementary School in Milton. Plans are in the works for more programs.

The club is a small, start-up organization hoping to grow its efforts to save the local bee community.