We recently had the opportunity to participate in a tour of one of Bloomington’s most innovative food preparation establishments (see http://www.bloomington.com/kitchenshare/) along with Bloomington Mayor John Hamilton, members of the city’s Economic and Sustainable Development Department and other distinguished guests. There, we met Ellie Symes, CEO of The Bee Corp (https://www.thebeecorp.com/about.html). Ellie is leader of a cutting-edge tech company that is using the “Internet of Things” (IoT) to foster sustainable honeybee populations.
Today, Ellie toured several of our pastures and we’re excited to announce that we’ll be partnering with The Bee Corp starting in 2018. Maple Valley Farm will host and manage several hives on our pastures (perhaps as many as 40 hives) and, in return, receive some bee benefits, including improved pollination of our forages and woodlands as well as some honey. The Bee Corp will obtain some easily accessible locations here in Bloomington for their research hives from which they will obtain valuable data to enhance and develop their software and IoT products.
Our current plan is to share a sampling of honey with all of our Harvest Partners and partnering land owners at no extra cost, provide excess honey to partners at a reduced price and sell the remaining honey to the community at large for a very reasonable price. No chemicals or medications are used on the hives. We’re looking forward to watching the pastures and woodlands blossom and thrive even more with the addition of these bees and sharing the fruits of our labor with you in 2018! The first honey should be available in the June timeframe. We’ll keep you updated.
The Howard family
