Beyond Sustainability - how can golf help us emerge into a flourishing future?

Bees

Pollinators + Golf: Partnering with Nature

Goals of a Sustainable Beekeeping Program:

Mitigate the honeybee presence on the golf course and minimizing human/honeybee interactions, goal to keep both humans (golfers and staff) and honeybees safe.
Capture feral/natural honeybee swarms to manage the presence of feral bees on and around the golf course.
Monitor existing natural and managed colonies on site to assess the strength of local bee populations as an indication of the environmental health of the ecosystem.
Provide swarm capture and relocation services on the golf course and maintain and inspect the established apiary on the golf course to encourage pollinator health.
When available from healthy colonies, share in the surplus of honey produced by the bees.
Update community on the activities to promote and protect local pollinators through content creation for various marketing outlets.

Benefits of a Beekeeping Program at a Golf Facility:

Environmental Stewardship:

Honeybees are an indicator species, meaning that if they are present in an area, that area can be considered a healthy environment. Humans would not be able to survive without the hard work and support of honeybees. In fact, honeybees have been “declared the most important living beings on this planet” (Science Times). A strong beekeeping program that supports the local pollinators indicates that the local ecosystem is healthy and thriving as well.

Educational and Marketing Opportunities:

Pollinators, especially honeybees, are experiencing alarming annual die-offs and humans greatly depend on bees and pollinators as vital players in our food system. Many educational and marketing opportunities are opened with a beekeeping program. There is great interest from a large population of people in “saving the bees” and having a beekeeping program at a golf facility strengthens that facility’s message and value to its customers.

Community Engagement:

There are many examples of golf courses being opposed by their surrounding community. Often, some community stakeholders only recognize a golf course as a recreational land use that requires a lot of water and resources. Having a beekeeping program and supporting the local pollinator population is a great way to demonstrate the benefit and value that the golf course landscape can provide to the community, in addition to recreation.

Safety:

Bees are present on golf courses whether we want them there or not, since the amount of forage and water available in these large green spaces attracts bees from the surrounding area. Additionally, bees are exceptional at finding small openings and cavities to nest in (e.g. irrigation boxes and tree cavities) so they often choose to nest on the golf course. Bees are ever-present on the course and beekeeping programs are necessary from a safety perspective to ensure that their home-finding efforts are properly guided and that those colonies that are already inconveniently-located are extracted and moved to safe areas through an intentional management program.

Honey:

Considered medicinal, delicious, and sacred to many, honey is a substance that many people (and all bees) enjoy. If the beekeeping program is active and the honeybees are healthy and strong, there may be opportunities to harvest and bottle local honey to be used for the benefit of the club. Creative uses of this product can serve golf courses well in its sustainability marketing and storytelling. Some ideas include providing small jars of honey at dining tables, giving jars out as tee prizes for events, featuring a jar as a gift for guests, and using honey in signature cocktails.