GROWTH & ETHICAL SOURCING
BannerBee is forging some very exciting new relationships with some very passionate beekeepers throughout the Mid-Atlantic region. We are delighted to grow our company and spread the good word about honeybees as we work closely with this passionate group of dedicated beekeepers who share our sustainable apiary management style as well as our moral and ethical standards. Our goal is to deliver to you the most exquisite product available on the market.

We aim to fine tune traceability of our ingredients including traceability of our honey back to the beehive of origin, by the end of 2024.

SUSTAINABILITY
BannerBee employs sustainable beekeeping practices through:

  • Non-migratory management: following a thorough site inspection, we place our hives on a single property for the entire season. It is our belief that migratory practices weaken the bees and increase susceptibility to disease.
  • We work with locally raised hygienic queens in the majority of our hives. This improves the strength of the stock of our bees as they are acclimated to our specific climate therefore, increasing survival rates.
  • We employ non-chemical practices by treating with essential oils and other natural means. We do not use antibiotics in treating our hives.
  • We ensure each hive in every one of our apiaries is winterized with 100+ pounds of honey and pollen in order to better the odds of the hive surviving through the winter season. This practice, as opposed to harvesting everything produced by the bees during the season and then feeding the hives sugar water or high fructose corn syrup, has proven, in our experience, to be much more successful in maintaining the honeybee’s health. Sugar water and/or high fructose corn syrup is much more difficult for the honeybees to digest.
  • We place our hives on certified organic and organically managed farms and estates.  We make every effort to place our hives as far away from toxic environment as possible (i.e. treated residential areas, corn & soy crops)
  • We use comb foundation that is slightly smaller than what is currently being used by most commercial beekeeping operations. This choice supports better hygiene, minimizing mites and therefore improved survival.

ENVIRONMENTAL STEWARDSHIP
We strive to promote a culture of environmental responsibility through the following:

  • We reuse shipping materials whenever possible and recycle what we cannot reuse. We use dissolving starch shipping peanuts and biodegradable packaging whenever possible. Our dog, Nina, loves to eat the starch packing peanuts ;)
  • We provide incentives for customers to return empty glass containers in order to encourage recycling. These glass jars are sterilized and reused for ‘little thing’ storage, candle jars or other purposes within our organization.
  • We are working toward an energy source conversion to 100% solar and wind combination by 2024.  We are currently using over 50% wind as our energy source. As of January 1, 2023, our clean kWh purchased equals 32,417 with a clean impact of 26.58 tons of CO2 equivalent.

COMMUNITY INVOLVEMENT
From our inception, BannerBee Co has held a steadfast commitment to our community and we understand the pivotal role of social responsibility and education. We strive to uphold our ethical standards in our efforts to support the ecosystem of our business – from hive to home.

  • We engage in community outreach by providing complimentary pollination to organic farmers within our beloved Montgomery County Agricultural Reserve; through demonstrations and interactive engagement at local schools; and, through our partnerships with various non-profit organizations such as our Maryland State Apiary Inspection Fund and Montgomery Countryside Alliance.
  • We are dedicated to providing education in our community through social media, events and farmers’ markets.
  • We donate to various fundraisers and organizations in our community.