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Urban Beekeeping Initiative

ShopCore’s smallest tenants.

What’s All the Buzz?

We recognize the importance of preserving honeybees with our urban beekeeping initiative. Currently, 25% of our properties house at least one hive as a part of this program. With up to 50,000 bees per hive at peak season, that’s more than one million of these critically important pollinators. Year-round, certified beekeepers care for our bees, then during harvest season honey is extracted and distributed to tenants and community members. But there is more to bees than just honey. We hope to increase awareness and engagement as we support more sustainable buildings and ecosystems.

The Importance of Honeybees

A force to bee reckoned with.

Our Urban Beekeeping Partnership

Our hives are installed and maintained through our partnership with turnkey urban beekeeping company Alvéole. Alvéole maintains the hives at 24 of our properties. Alvéole beekeepers also regularly update MyHive, a publicly accessible, one-stop social media web portal for the hives, with posts, pictures, and videos from each of these properties.

ShopCore also aims to build a stronger sense of community through this initiative, and our partners help us do just that. Throughout the year, our partner beekeeping company offers educational workshops and activities for virtual or in person engagement with the honeybees. And at the end of the harvest season, complimentary jars of honey are distributed to tenants, ShopCore employees, and the surrounding communities. In 2022, our 36 hives at 29 properties produced 3,600 jars of honey.