Frank Martin (left)
By Gene Robbins, Managing Editor
A project led by the Hillsborough Rotary Club will bring pollinator bee hives to Ann Van Middlesworth Park.
Honey bees, an essential part of the pollination process necessary to produce flowers and fruit, are considered to be threatened and dying off in large numbers.
The club and township officials started to discuss honey bees and the idea of creating a sustainable agricultural project more than a year ago, said club president John Shockley.
Two hives were installed Saturday in the park off Pleasant View Road??, Mr. Shockley said. The area isn’t ready for public visitation. An old GSA depot building was moved there and will be reroofed. The Scouts will paint it. Fencing will be installed. Electricity needs to be installed. Explanatory signs are planned.
Boy Scout Troop 1776 will work to maintain the hives and eventually have a source of funding in selling the honey — maybe 8 to 9 gallons a year starting in the second year, said Rotarian Joe Horner. Mr. Shockley suggested at the April 12 Township Committee meeting the honey could be named “1776 Nectar” or “Hillsborough’s Finest.”
A long-range goal is to aim a camera at the hive and have the activity broadcast continually over the web, said Mr. Shockley.
Rotary is helping to fund the investment, but the effort also required hours learning about honey bees, finding the right site and who finding a partner to maintain, manage and produce honey to sell to the public.
Boy Scout Troop 1776 seized the opportunity and have been working with Hillsborough resident and honeybee keeper Frank Martin, who is a Rotarian. Mr. Martin “seeded” the new hives with some sections of an existing one built by other bees, in hopes of producing some honey in this first year, said Mr. Shockley.
