Beehive could double hunger charity’s garden output
Hunger charity collaborates with 3M, beekeeper
While honeybees have a massive economic impact on the United States’ food industry in general, one local charity is hoping to use them to bolster its efforts in feeding the needy. Pictured is a honeybee hive outside of Root Candles in 2015. File photo by KEVIN MCMANUS
MEDINA – But why a beehive?
That’s what Feeding Medina County Director Sandy Hinkle found herself asking when she was approached with the idea of installing a hive of about 70,000 honey bees nearby the community garden on the nonprofit’s Lafayette Road property.
“I, of course, had to call our insurance company and they said ‘nobody has ever asked us about a beehive before,’” Hinkle laughed of the hive that was installed last month.
The reasoning is simple: as the need to feed struggling families, children and elderly in Medina County continues to grow – FMC distributed about 200,000 pounds of food to almost 1,100 needy schoolchildren last year alone – so does the importance of the nonprofit’s programming, especially its two-acre community garden.
The garden, which Hinkle admitted has been a bit of a challenge, has helped supplement a small portion of the fruits and vegetables doled out to those in need since its first planting in 2013.
“The garden has been a struggle to produce and it’s not for lack of what’s been done in that garden. It’s all natural, but having the bees near the garden can increase your production,” Hinkle said. “All of that food goes right back out to needy people in our community.
Local beekeeper Peggy Garnes, of Queens Right Colonies and the Medina County Beekeepers Association, said the presence of a single honeybee hive can, if “Mother Nature cooperates,” double the output of a one-acre garden through the bees’ pollination of the crops. Garnes, who is volunteering her time to care for FMC’s new hive, estimated a harvest increase of about 40-60 percent.
“Every third bite we take, honeybees are responsible,” Garnes said of honeybees’ impact on the food industry in general. “This (FMC) being a facility that doesn’t use chemicals or pesticides, it’s very favorable to honeybees.”
The beehive came to fruition thanks to a service project by employees at 3M’s Lake Road plant. 3M purchased the hive and the bees and donated them to FMC.
“We were looking for a way to get involved in the community in an ongoing, sustainable way and Feeding Medina County has been a great partner,” said Mark Gryskiewicz, 3M plant manager. “It’s been a great way to keep us involved in the community.”
Kim Mahon, a Cleveland Clinic nurse who works with 3M staff for its healthy living initiatives, said this year 3M was charged with a five-year, sustainable, community service project for employees. With three beehives already in place outside the Lake Road plant, Mahon said the beehive partnership with FMC was a no-brainer.
“How can we go even further into our community?” Mahon asked rhetorically. “Our employees are learning a lot.”
While increasing the garden’s output is the main focus, honey produced by the hive could also benefit Feeding Medina County, Hinkle said, not only in providing the food itself, but also using jars of it as novelty-like auction items during the organization’s annual gala.
“We spend our money on food and we walk a tightrope here with the amount of people we feed and the numbers are not decreasing, they’re increasing,” Hinkle said. “I’ve always said that Medina County people really take care of each other ... the whole beehive thing really ties into what we do.”
That’s what Feeding Medina County Director Sandy Hinkle found herself asking when she was approached with the idea of installing a hive of about 70,000 honey bees nearby the community garden on the nonprofit’s Lafayette Road property.
“I, of course, had to call our insurance company and they said ‘nobody has ever asked us about a beehive before,’” Hinkle laughed of the hive that was installed last month.
The reasoning is simple: as the need to feed struggling families, children and elderly in Medina County continues to grow – FMC distributed about 200,000 pounds of food to almost 1,100 needy schoolchildren last year alone – so does the importance of the nonprofit’s programming, especially its two-acre community garden.
The garden, which Hinkle admitted has been a bit of a challenge, has helped supplement a small portion of the fruits and vegetables doled out to those in need since its first planting in 2013.
“The garden has been a struggle to produce and it’s not for lack of what’s been done in that garden. It’s all natural, but having the bees near the garden can increase your production,” Hinkle said. “All of that food goes right back out to needy people in our community.
Local beekeeper Peggy Garnes, of Queens Right Colonies and the Medina County Beekeepers Association, said the presence of a single honeybee hive can, if “Mother Nature cooperates,” double the output of a one-acre garden through the bees’ pollination of the crops. Garnes, who is volunteering her time to care for FMC’s new hive, estimated a harvest increase of about 40-60 percent.
“Every third bite we take, honeybees are responsible,” Garnes said of honeybees’ impact on the food industry in general. “This (FMC) being a facility that doesn’t use chemicals or pesticides, it’s very favorable to honeybees.”
The beehive came to fruition thanks to a service project by employees at 3M’s Lake Road plant. 3M purchased the hive and the bees and donated them to FMC.
“We were looking for a way to get involved in the community in an ongoing, sustainable way and Feeding Medina County has been a great partner,” said Mark Gryskiewicz, 3M plant manager. “It’s been a great way to keep us involved in the community.”
Kim Mahon, a Cleveland Clinic nurse who works with 3M staff for its healthy living initiatives, said this year 3M was charged with a five-year, sustainable, community service project for employees. With three beehives already in place outside the Lake Road plant, Mahon said the beehive partnership with FMC was a no-brainer.
“How can we go even further into our community?” Mahon asked rhetorically. “Our employees are learning a lot.”
While increasing the garden’s output is the main focus, honey produced by the hive could also benefit Feeding Medina County, Hinkle said, not only in providing the food itself, but also using jars of it as novelty-like auction items during the organization’s annual gala.
“We spend our money on food and we walk a tightrope here with the amount of people we feed and the numbers are not decreasing, they’re increasing,” Hinkle said. “I’ve always said that Medina County people really take care of each other ... the whole beehive thing really ties into what we do.”