Episode 32 – Bees in the D: Urban Beekeeping and Community Impact in Detroit 🐝 🏙️

In this episode, I sit down with Brian Peterson, co-founder of Bees in the D, to talk about urban beekeeping in Detroit and how a small idea grew into a large community-driven nonprofit. We cover education, pollinator advocacy, urban hive performance, and what it takes to scale beekeeping responsibly inside a major city.

This is a practical look at how bees intersect with schools, neighborhoods, and large-scale community outreach.

• How Bees in the D started and expanded across Detroit
• The realities of keeping bees in dense urban environments
• Urban forage diversity compared to rural settings
• Building partnerships with schools and community organizations
• The Michigan Pollinator Initiative and public education efforts
• Varroa management in city apiaries
• Rooftop hives and visibility in urban outreach
• Training educators and expanding pollinator literacy
• Scaling nonprofit beekeeping operations sustainably

This episode gives you insight into how urban beekeeping works at scale and how bees can become a tool for education, food awareness, and community engagement.

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🫶 https://thehealinghiveproject.org

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Beekeeping For Newbees is a top 1.5% podcast with over 600,000 downloads, helping new and experienced beekeepers grow stronger colonies and make smarter decisions through every season. Listen weekly for practical guidance, swarm stories, and honest takes on what works and what does not in real-world beekeeping.