Detroit’s vacant lots are becoming a sweet thing for the city. No, they are not being turned into glitzy high rises. Instead, a pair of entrepreneurs is turning them into honey bee farms. Area residents Timothy Paule and Nicole Lindsey organized Detroit Hives, a non-profit that purchases vacant properties and remodels them into fully functioning bee farms. Paule told the Huffington Post that the idea to convert blighted properties came after he couldn’t get rid of a cold. “I went to the local market that I normally go to, and he suggested that I try some local honey for my cough,” Paule said. “He said you consume local honey because it has medicinal properties.” After he started to feel better, the couple also began to think about how urban blight contributed to allergies through overgrown ragweeds in abandoned areas. They put producing local honey and erasing urban blight together, and Detroit Hives was born. “These properties are left abandoned and serve as a dumping ground in most cases,” Paule said. “The area can be a breeding ground for environmental hazards, which creates a stigma around the city.” The two rook courses and got certified as beekeepers. With the assistance of Detroit Land Bank Authority, Paule and Lindsey purchased their first property for $340. The effect of what the couple is doing hits the whole community, as the honey generated is sold to local vendors, who it turns use it to create products such as handcrafted beer and sauces. Detroit Hives even has a sweet logo: “Work hard, stat bumble.”
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