As the war in Ukraine persists, Greater Good Charities continues to stay engaged, helping people and pets impacted by the conflict.
War destroys lives in many ways - homes, crops, livelihoods, and entire industries – like beekeeping.
Beekeeping is an important industry in Ukraine, as honey is one of its major exports. In fact, Ukraine is one of the leading suppliers of honey in the region. But that industry has been crippled by war. Beekeepers have had to flee their homes and abandon their hives. With no one to tend to the colonies, the bees can be plagued by disease and the lethal parasite, verona mites. Those bees that do survive have difficulty foraging for food, as many plants and flowers have also been decimated, including sunflower crops, another of Ukraine’s major exports. These issues critically impact the country’s long-term food security and economy.
To support the beekeepers in Ukraine, Greater Good Charities has teamed up with the Brotherhood of Ukrainian Beekeepers, Mann Lake and TRIWA to provide critical resources to beekeepers to help support them through the end of their beekeeping season in September.
To date, Greater Good Charities has distributed more than 20,000 pounds of bee pollen substitute and 97,000 pounds of sugar to Ukrainian beekeepers in the region of Mykolaiv Oblast, which is a major sunflower growing region.
In total, Greater Good Charities has also distributed more than 500 queen bees and 500 hives to help Ukrainian beekeepers replenish the colonies that have been destroyed. And, importantly, the effort includes distribution of vaccines and cleaning products to help protect new colonies from disease and parasites.
If you’d like to support these efforts to help these hardworking beekeepers get back on their feet as well as the bees that impact us in every corner of the globe, please help!