Hood Brook Honeybees & the Birth of the Saving the Honeybees Movement

For more than 18 years, Bob Donovan, founder of Hood Brook Honeybees, has been a small but determined presence in the New England bee culture — a place where honeybees, community, and stewardship have always gone hand in hand. What began as a modest apiary grew into a source of pure honey, education, and connection to the natural world. In January of 2020, Bob purchased his “forever property” alongside Hood Brook in Pittsfield, Maine. At about the same time, the national decline of honeybees worsened, with very high losses reported across the country. In fact, in the last few years, Hood Brook Apiary has been tested in ways we never expected.

The past four seasons have been the hardest in our entire beekeeping journey. Colony losses weren't just high — they were devastating. Year after year, we watched hives that had thrived in the beginning suddenly collapse. Parasites, pesticides, unpredictable weather, forage shortages… the perfect storm. By the end of 2024, Hood Brook Apiary was nearly wiped out.

After almost two decades of caring for bees, we found ourselves standing in an empty bee yard, wondering if this was the end.

But something remarkable happened.

Just as we were preparing to step away, people in our community — neighbors, customers, local families, fellow beekeepers — reached out. They told us not to give up. They reminded us that Hood Brook Honeybees wasn't just an apiary; it was a part of the community fabric. They encouraged us to keep going, to rebuild, and to turn this loss into something bigger than ourselves.

And that's when the idea shifted from survival… to movement.

Instead of closing our hives for good, we decided to open our doors wider than ever before. Saving the Honeybees is our effort to transform heartbreak into action — a community-powered initiative dedicated to protecting honeybees, supporting pollinators, and educating the public about the crisis unfolding right in our backyards.

But this isn't just a project. It's the foundation of something bigger.

From Initiative to Nonprofit: A Mission with Momentum

Our goal is to grow Saving the Honeybees into a full nonprofit organization with a clear mission:

• Preserve honeybees and native pollinators
• Rebuild sustainable apiaries
• Offer hands-on classes, workshops, and school programs
• Create sponsorship opportunities for individuals and businesses
• Engage the community in real, meaningful conservation work
• Support new beekeepers and struggling apiaries
• Promote pollinator-friendly gardening and land stewardship

This isn't just about saving Hood Brook Honeybees.

It's about creating a model that can help save all honeybees.

Why We're Asking the Community to Join Us

Beekeeping has always been a partnership between humans and nature — but now, more than ever, it needs to be a partnership with community.

But we can't do it alone.

Saving the Honeybees is your movement as much as ours. Whether you sponsor a hive, attend a class, plant pollinator-friendly flowers, or simply share our mission with others, you become part of the solution.