Urban beekeeping is one of our future keys for not only the survival of bees but for the survival of humankind. Some of Atlanta’s largest companies are participating in saving our planet by investing in bees. AT&T, Delta, Chick-Fil-A, and Cox Enterprises, to name a few, are partnering with an urban beehive startup company, Bee Downtown, to install beehives on their property to help grow the urban bee population.
We were walking in Lenox Park in Atlanta when I saw large beautifully painted boxes on the AT&T property. There were beautifully painted signs informing us that these were AT&T leased beehives from a startup company, Bee Downtown, for everyone to enjoy. Also, these beautiful signs gave all kinds of incredible information about bees and beehives. The most exciting information for me was that each hive will cover 18,000 acres or a 3 miles radius. These hives are across the street from our neighborhood. I was ecstatic as the bees whirled around these hand-painted beehive boxes. These magnificent, holy creatures will visit all of our beautiful gardens. I would see these precious bees in my yard. I was so grateful to AT&T for their mindfulness and involvement in our community.
Between 2016 to 2017, we lost over one-third of the bee colonies in the United States. Bees are the number one pollinators on earth. Hence, they pollinate 80 percent of everything that grows on this planet. Each urban beehive produces 40 pounds of honey by its second year.
Bee Downtown
Bee Downtown installs, maintains, and tracks data on the hives. They also teach classes about bees and beekeeping to the AT&T employees. This is so amazing! These corporations are participating in creating more Mindful Communities and Mindful Green Living.
Yesterday my neighbor and I were planting bee and butterfly friendly flowers in our yards. We took a break together and returned to our flowers about 15 minutes later. Our flowers were covered with AT&T bees. I began to cry as we witnessed these sacred beings jumping from flower to flower with their intoxicating sound of pure joy. There are no words to describe the holy feeling of participating in the circle of life. It was heaven on earth.
Thank you for your leadership in Mindful Living in our world AT&T.