Bees in the D: hives take root on Detroit rooftops for preservation

Dozens of hives are being placed in the city of Detroit to promote preservation and sustainability.

Bees in the D is part education, part inspiration and part necessity.  It started two years ago with a handful and now he says there are 84 hives in 33 locations, and most of them downtown are on roofs. 

"If you really love to eat things like almonds and blueberries and a lot of the crops that depend on pollinators, we may not lose these completely - but you better believe they're gonna go through the roof because they're gonna be at a premium," Brian Peterson-Roest said.

The culture of bees in urban farming is taking fruit in Detroit. The sweet idea is a mission this group is passionate about.  

"Our mission is education and conservation of honey bees. We care of the bees. We know we need the bees. But there's an underlining mission of sustainability. We need to learn to coexist with nature and what a great way to do that, right in downtown Detroit," Brian said.

The bees bust through borders too -- perhaps one of the only ones in the country to have organized roots in two countries. 

"These bees are actually international. They don't even need passports. I mean they're going across the river in Canada, and we do have bee hives there as well.  It's kind of fun to say we're doing an international effort here," Brian said.

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