DAYTON, Ohio — An Ohio Air Force base has been recognized for its efforts to save bee populations.
The Dayton Daily News reports Wright-Patterson Air Force Base received the Bee City USA designation from a national program that helps strengthen ecosystems for bees, which are vital to pollinating many plants humans eat.
Wright-Patterson is the first military base to earn the special environmental distinction.
Dwight Wells, a sustainable beekeeper with the Propolis Project, LLC inspects a young bee colony at the Huffman Prairies Queen Yard at Wright-Patterson Air Force Base, Ohio, Aug. 26, 2015. For the last couple months Wells has been watching the colony to see if they have enough feed to sustain them through winter. Young colonies need nursed along so they have a balanced and stable population. The Propolis Project, LLC is the Pollinator Partnership program in cooperation with WPAFB National Park Service and Ohio Department of Agriculture.
Photo Credit: Michelle Gigante/Air Force
Wright-Patterson natural resources technician Danielle Trevino says the base’s conservation efforts began in 2015 with 50,000 bees in four colonies. The bee population has since grown to about 250,000.
Trevino says two of the bee colonies will be relocated to a remote area on the base.
