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.
We work with prominent biologists with over 20 years of experience to ensure we're making an impact in the most needed areas. We are extremely excited as we look forward to future projects.
The goal of the Karma Honey Project is to protect wild pollinators and spread awareness about helping bees. Here are some of the ways our organization has made a lasting impact in the past:
AIDING LOCAL FARMERS
We knew that to keep family farmers in business, we had to increase the number of people buying their goods. This is where we came along and introduced 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 collected and bottled the honey, which we then distributed to local restaurants, bakeries, hotels, and coffee shops. This allowed businesses to support their community with our delicious Puerto Rican honey, instead of importing it from off the island. We built lasting relationships with farmers and urban businesses alike.
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 fostered connections with the youth 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 were 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 was to introduce bees into communities that could 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 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 worked 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 supporting our mission.
A bee colony that we rescued from a water meter and then re-homed on a small organic urban farm
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