Brian Peterson-Roest believes it’s going to take a whole lot of worker bees, both human and insect, to keep the Michigan honeybee population healthy. But he has reason to be hopeful.

The beekeeper is the founder of non-profit group Bees in the D, which started out in 2016 with six Detroit hives and a goal to support honeybees in metro Detroit. Now, Peterson-Roest and his team manage over 175 honeybee hives across six counties in 50 locations, cooperating with residents, schools, scout groups and businesses to support honeybee health. But it takes some serious teamwork.

Beekeeper and elementary school teacher Brian Peterson-Roest also had a vision to transform Detroit into a honeybee haven. But rather than focusing exclusively on vacant lots, the founder of Bees in the D, another honeybee and pollinator-focused….

As we look forward to 2020, we have one main goal in mind - to break ground on our Education Community Center. Originally, this center was a part of our 10-year plan, but because of the generous support we have felt in just 4 short years & because honey bees continue to face many environmental issues, we believe the need for this center in Detroit is now. The honey bee population is still declining worldwide due to diseases, pesticides, & weather…

Bees In The D makes a lot of honey, partnering with landowners, the nonprofit places beehives all around the city and beyond. To date, they have 180 hives, spanning across five Michigan counties.

Two of those bee hives are located atop of the old Stroh’s Beer Factory in Eastern Market, now home to the Whiskey Room production room and event space for Detroit City Distillery (DCD). And, some of that honey has been put to a very special use.

Bees In The D and DCD have partnered up to make two very special products: Bourbon Barrel Aged Honey and Honey Bourbon.

Bees In The D aged a batch of their raw honey in a previously used whiskey barrel to pick up the whiskey taste. Whiskey that’s good for you? It’s a possibility.

At its core, the organization exists to cultivate the honeybee population. Peterson-Roest explains that he works with Detroiters interested in hosting hives that the Bees in the D will manage; or who, once trained, will manage their own beehives. Each hive site is scouted in advance, and could be in a back yard, community garden, residential or commercial rooftop, or virtually anywhere that’s legally allowed.

Along with hobbyist beekeepers, Bees in the D collaborates with many Detroit-based businesses small and large, including sustainability teams of the big-three automakers, Chrysler, Ford, and General Motors. Several more companies and institutions even make the hives essential parts of their own environmental programs, including the Cobo Center’s “living green roof.” Whether through financial support, or materials, talent, and or space donations, Peterson-Roest says it’s encouraging that local companies “care about pollinators in our ecosystem.”

Whether you’re a local Detroiter, or an individual who has never stepped foot in the Motor City, the industrial renown of Detroit is understood by many. From its rich roots in factories and large warehouses to the environment of engineering brought upon by the automobile industry, the city made a name built upon the foundation of metal and motors. Unfortunately with that reputation, came a legacy of pollution and other not so friendly environmental…

The Bon Bon Bon employees, known as the Babes Babes Babes, suited up to check out the honey bees located on the roof of the new shop in Hamtramck. The nonprofit Bees in the D partnered with Bon Bon Bon to produce honey that will be used for the chocolates. Hamtramck — Bon Bon Bon has said bon voyage to its first chocolate shop in Hamtramck and moved into a new space that’s affectionately nicknamed “The Building Building Building.”

METRO DETROIT — When Brian Peterson first planted a vegetable garden, he saw modest success.

“I got some cucumbers and zucchini and tomatoes,” Peterson said. “But once I got bees, it was unbelievable. I had to pawn off vegetables on the neighbors and make a bunch of pickles. “If a flower is not pollinated, it can’t produce fruit,” he said. “The flower will fall off and die. Before I had bees…

OAKLAND TOWNSHIP — Honeybees are critical to our food supply and ecosystem.

“Six years ago, I went to Beaver Island for a two-week crash course on beekeeping,” Brian Peterson, a Dinosaur Hills volunteer at Oakland Township’s Cranberry Lake Park, said July 20. “I became addicted to bees after one day.”

As Detroit enters a new renaissance, many entrepreneurs have taken advantage of this period of innovation. This includes Brian Peterson, a fifth grade teacher from Rochester and beekeeping enthusiast. He plans on starting one of the first bee highways in the U.S., a system of bee hives on rooftops of local businesses to help pollinate the plants of the “urban farming” movement and pr