In aJune 5 article entitled “What’s the Buzz? Beehives Burgeon in Baltimore Backyards,” Rachel Wilkinson, adjunct professor of English, recently reported on the local beekeeping community for the website BmoreMedia.
Over the course of the piece, Wilkinson explores a number of facets to the practice and its prevalence within Maryland, noting that there are 1,751 registered beekeepers with about 12,000 colonies in 1800 locations according to the state’s Department of Agriculture, and that “[a]ccording to to state apiarist Jerry Fischer, Baltimore alone was home to about 29 registered beekeepers keeping more than 100 colonies in 45 locations as of February.”
Wilkinson also looks into the personalities and motivations of those who have chosen to pursue the beekeeping in the area. “Beekeepers are part thrill-seekers, part environmentalists. Concerned with ecology and sustainability, gardeners often find beekeeping the obvious next step. Keeping the pollinators results in more fruit, vegetables and flowers in your garden,” she writes.
