KEEPING BEES BUSY AND SAVING THE PLANET ONE HIVE AT A TIME.

Beekeeper Carmen Battavio started his honeybee hives* six years ago when he noticed both lack of honeybees in the area and poor production in his vegetable and flower gardens. After hives were started that spring, he and his neighbors noticed a substantial increase in beauty and vegetables. Carmen has found beekeeping to be a unique and highly rewarding hobby. We are Department of Agriculture approved for the hives and the honey extraction and bottling areas we use. We are proud to have this approval that shows our desire to offer the most delicious and safe products.

Additional benefits to beekeeping

• Membership in the Chester County Bee Association, is a wonderful group of friendly beekeepers. As caring members, most of us register our hives with the Department of Agricultural and are subject to random inspections. This is your way of knowing local beekeepers protect and care for their bees so the by-products are safe and reliable. Visit the association on the web at www.chescobees.org.
• Birds, bats, and various insects such as praying mantis seem to be bountiful where hives are located.
• A long lasting way to help nature.
• Because they are so fascinating, there are many individuals and groups interested in learning about bees and beekeeping.

*if you are interested in placing Carmen B's hives at your location, contact us for details.

Honey Bee Project

The Bees by the Blacksmith Shop is a wonderful public-private partnership that brought honey producing hives to the open space near the Blacksmith Shop! The Watermark at Bellingham Senior Living sponsors the hives, and Carmen B’s Honey, a Township-based small business, manages and maintains the bees! The Watermark has introduced apiary education to its residents and uses the honey in its recipes and cooking classes! But that’s not it, the Township was also awarded a Keep PA Beautiful grant funded by Giant Food Stores for a youth apiary program! In 2022, we rolled out a kids program complete with youth-sized beekeeper outfits so they can safely get close and see the inner workings of the hives. We graduated two classes of Junior Beekeepers and hosted East Goshen Elementary School classes throughout the year. For more information about this unique partnership, email Park and Recreation Director Jason Lang at jlang@eastgoshen.org

Video On Demand, Beekeeping Series