Puerto Rico-USVI Bee Rescue Fund
Tax deductible
Help Save The Bees of the Caribbean!
Progress! Thanks to the generous support of many caring organizations and individuals, protein needs are already being met! The first shipments of donated protein supplement quickly reached the islands, with distribution to beekeepers ongoing. More protein is on the way and will reach the islands soon.
Bee Housing Next! The immediate campaign focus has shifted to supplying 1,000 Langstroth hives to help replace those destroyed by the hurricanes. We are pleased to report that the first 100 hive kits are on their way, with a scheduled November 29 arrival on Puerto Rico. Additional pallets are being assembled for shipment.
However, replacing hives is proving to be a costly undertaking. The campaign needs additional support to provide the help needed to beekeepers on the islands.
DOUBLE YOUR CONTRIBUTION! $1,000 remaining on Blue Diamond Growers generous pledge to MATCH $5,000 in donations.
This Campaign seeks to:
1. Provide immediate relief and support for PR and USVI beekeepers.
2. Raise funds ($50,000 goal).
3. Provide supplemental protein for 3,000 hives [DONE!] while the ecosystems and floral resources recover.
4. Deliver 1,000 replacement hives.
5. Help strengthen beekeeping and pollination services on the islands.
6. Assess the impacts of the hurricanes on the islands’ other pollinating species to determine how help can be provided.
BACKGROUND
Hurricanes have devastated Puerto Rico and the US Virgin Islands (USVI), crippling infrastructure, along with access to electricity, water, and other basic necessities. Agriculture was decimated, too. Cropland, family farms, and food systems were largely destroyed, and nearly $780 million in crop losses have been recorded so far on Puerto Rico alone.
Bees on Puerto Rico and the USVI have been hit just as hard.
The islands’ beekeepers are essential to local agriculture and specialty crops on the islands. On Puerto Rico, fewer than 150 beekeepers provide 7% of the honey consumed on the island, and these men and women maintain an estimated 4,000 domestic hives. On the USVI about a dozen beekeepers manage about 800 hives. From pineapples to coffee to countless fruits and vegetables, honeybees and other pollinators are the key to the recovery of agriculture on the islands.
Recent hurricanes stripped the islands of their floral resources, effectively denying that critical nutritional resource to these "natural farmers." Surviving colonies remain at risk of collapsing. Beekeepers are working to keep their bees alive in the short term by providing sugar water and supplemental protein donated by the campaign.
The hurricanes not only resulted in colony losses of up to 80% but also destroyed most of the Langstroth wooden hives used by beekeepers to house their bees. Bees that survived the destruction of their hives have swarmed, taking up residence in people’s homes and other structures, creating health and safety concerns.
Beekeepers are working hard to recover, but remain in desperate need of our help to secure replacement Langstroth hives to house their bees.
Please help today!
Progress! Thanks to the generous support of many caring organizations and individuals, protein needs are already being met! The first shipments of donated protein supplement quickly reached the islands, with distribution to beekeepers ongoing. More protein is on the way and will reach the islands soon.
Bee Housing Next! The immediate campaign focus has shifted to supplying 1,000 Langstroth hives to help replace those destroyed by the hurricanes. We are pleased to report that the first 100 hive kits are on their way, with a scheduled November 29 arrival on Puerto Rico. Additional pallets are being assembled for shipment.
However, replacing hives is proving to be a costly undertaking. The campaign needs additional support to provide the help needed to beekeepers on the islands.
DOUBLE YOUR CONTRIBUTION! $1,000 remaining on Blue Diamond Growers generous pledge to MATCH $5,000 in donations.
This Campaign seeks to:
1. Provide immediate relief and support for PR and USVI beekeepers.
2. Raise funds ($50,000 goal).
3. Provide supplemental protein for 3,000 hives [DONE!] while the ecosystems and floral resources recover.
4. Deliver 1,000 replacement hives.
5. Help strengthen beekeeping and pollination services on the islands.
6. Assess the impacts of the hurricanes on the islands’ other pollinating species to determine how help can be provided.
BACKGROUND
Hurricanes have devastated Puerto Rico and the US Virgin Islands (USVI), crippling infrastructure, along with access to electricity, water, and other basic necessities. Agriculture was decimated, too. Cropland, family farms, and food systems were largely destroyed, and nearly $780 million in crop losses have been recorded so far on Puerto Rico alone.
Bees on Puerto Rico and the USVI have been hit just as hard.
The islands’ beekeepers are essential to local agriculture and specialty crops on the islands. On Puerto Rico, fewer than 150 beekeepers provide 7% of the honey consumed on the island, and these men and women maintain an estimated 4,000 domestic hives. On the USVI about a dozen beekeepers manage about 800 hives. From pineapples to coffee to countless fruits and vegetables, honeybees and other pollinators are the key to the recovery of agriculture on the islands.
Recent hurricanes stripped the islands of their floral resources, effectively denying that critical nutritional resource to these "natural farmers." Surviving colonies remain at risk of collapsing. Beekeepers are working to keep their bees alive in the short term by providing sugar water and supplemental protein donated by the campaign.
The hurricanes not only resulted in colony losses of up to 80% but also destroyed most of the Langstroth wooden hives used by beekeepers to house their bees. Bees that survived the destruction of their hives have swarmed, taking up residence in people’s homes and other structures, creating health and safety concerns.
Beekeepers are working hard to recover, but remain in desperate need of our help to secure replacement Langstroth hives to house their bees.
Please help today!
Organizer
Val Dolcini
Organizer
San Francisco, CA
Pollinator Partnership
Registered nonprofit
Donations are typically 100% tax deductible in the US.
