Monin and Bee Downtown bring honey bees to Clearwater

Tucked away on the campus of Monin, Inc. in Clearwater you'll find some serious worker bees making the most of their corporate headquarters.

And by bees, we mean honey bees.

The company known for making syrups knows a little bit about sweet things, and honey is a great natural sweetener, so Monin partners with Bee Downtown to install some beehives at their business.

Leigh-Kathryn Bonner, Founder and CEO of Bee Downtown, described it this way, "We're bringing the bees to the city! We install and maintain beehives on corporate campuses to help rebuild sustainable agriculture while simultaneously providing employee engagement."

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That's the business line that plays well on paper and in the corporate office, but the real issue is this according to Bonner, "When the bees joined the Monin campus they start to positively impact the 18,000 acres around the Monin community... We start to see a ripple effect occur."

Bee Downtown's mission is to get the purposeful pollinators into the community because of the positive impact they create in local vegetation and plant life.

"I'm a 4th generation beekeeper," said Bonner, "I wanted people in cities to have the same experience I had. They get to fall in love with nature, and then have a better environment as well."

Monin prides itself on using natural ingredients and using locally sourced products.

Nothing gets more local than producing your own honey from the local fruit trees and flowers in your community.

"Honeybees are the world's number one pollinator," Bonner said, "Anyone who says small things can't make a big difference has not met a honeybee."

To learn more about Bee Downtown click here