About Us
The Karma Honey Project was created in 2018 to increase the Puerto Rican honey bee population, spread awareness of the species, and create local jobs through ecotourism and beekeeping. Founded by entrepreneur Candice Galek after seeing the devastating effects Hurricane's Irma and Maria caused the island.
Our most recent addition to the team is bee biologist Bert Rivera Marchand. He brings over 20 years of experience and more importantly was one of the first scientists to discover the importance of the gAHB. We are extremely excited as we move into 2021 with the progress that we have been making.
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The Karma Honey Project uses proceeds for the following purposes:
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Creation of new hives to repopulate the affected honey bee population.
- Helping small farmers to pollinate organic crops on traditional and urban farms.
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Donating to university based research to help find solutions to the problems affecting bees.
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Educating both children and adults on the importance of pollinators.
- Planting bee friendly fields of wildflowers and sunflowers to forage from.
The Karma Honey Project aims to promote a strong sense community, and increase ecotourism across the tropical island in the following ways:
AIDING LOCAL FARMERS
We know that to keep family farmers in business, we have to increase the number of people buying their goods. This is where we come along and introduce a new revenue stream for locals. By incorporating our bee hives onto their existing farm land, the fruit and vegetable crops benefit from our buzzing pollinators.
We collect and bottle the honey, which we then sell to local restaurants, bakeries, hotels, and coffee shops. This allows businesses to support their community with our delicious Puerto Rican honey, instead of importing it from off the island. We hope to build lasting relationships with farmers and urban businesses alike.
Board member Pep Menendez resting after a busy day of scouting locations.
INCREASING BEE COLONIES
In order for the Africanized Honey Bee to thrive in Puerto Rico we have to create more sanctuaries for them, and give more people the opportunity to become involved. The Karma Honey Project fosters connections with the youth of today, by offering a complimentary beekeeping curriculum to teachers.
The best way to promote beekeeping for the future is to spark an interest in the hearts and minds of school aged children. Teachers are able to incorporate bees, pollinators and sustainability into their classroom through a hands on approach led by our community of volunteers.
ECOTOURISM AND JOBS
Our goal is to introduce bees into communities that can benefit from their arrival in a number of ways. This is a project that has been successful in a number of major cities across the U.S., and we found the perfect place in between San Juan and Fajardo to start. We have begun building a sanctuary in Loíza which will not only help to increase the number of bee colonies on the island, but also aide the culturally in tune municipality by bringing tourism to the area.
By creating an ecotourism opportunity, we will not only entertain and educate tourists, but stimulate the economy by creating additional revenue and job opportunities for Puerto Ricans.
CREATING A COMMUNITY
The Karma Honey Project is dialed in with local, regional and national organizations to promote the Puerto Rican Honey Bee as a hardy species. Our grassroots organizing campaigns are designed to defend and bolster Caribbean agriculture. We’ve worked side-by-side with beekeepers to inform the public about important issues facing the honey bee such as pesticides, pathogens, parasites, and poor nutrition.
Instead of having misplaced bee colonies exterminated, we work to capture and re-home them in more accepting areas where they are safe. All of our bee hives are occupied by bees that have been rescued from extermination, so when we say we're saving the world one bee at a time, we really mean it.
By strengthening the voices of bee enthusiasts, the Karma Honey Project aims to spread awareness of ways people can make a difference within their own communities. You can become an advocate for change by connecting with us on Facebook.
Bee colony that we rescued from a water meter and re-homed on a small organic urban farm
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