Beekeeping has some sweet benefits—the most obvious being honey and then there’s the pollination perks of a plentiful garden.  In fact, bees help grow a third of our food, so when you keep them near your plants, you’re bound to see the payoffs in fruits and vegetables.  And beekeepers say the hobby nourishes them in other ways as well by relieving stress and triggering creativity.

Some of that creativity has even spilled over into the beekeeping itself.

Multimedia Producer Eva Sollberger captured a group of beekeepers in Shelburn, Vermont, who have been harvesting bees for more than 3 years.  What’s surprising is where these folks are living: A retirement community.  Eva’s video shows how both residents and visitors are getting much more than a sweet fix from this community beekeeping project. Check out her Stuck in Vermont video here.

And some beekeepers are taking the hobby to new heights, raising bees in locations that guarantee great views; that is Rooftop Beekeeping.  Last spring I produced a video on Urban Beekeeper Cameo Wood who opened up Her Majesty’s Secret Beekeeper in San Francisco, which Cameo said was the only Urban Beekeeping store in the world. The store closed last summer, but the swarm of Urban Beekeepers continues buzzing in cities around the world.  Check out the video “Buzz Kill” below.

And some beekeepers have even found a very entertaining way to wear their bees.

During The annual Clovermead Bee Beard Competition in Ontario, Canada, beekeepers compete for the “Best Bee Beard.”  This is a beard competition that might even scare the heavyweight beard builders from the Petaluma Whiskerino, which I posted about last October.

This year’s winner, Tibor Szabo, had 22,500 bees covering his entire face, neck, shoulders and hands.  Talk about a bee in his bonnet, It’s unclear how this man was even breathing.  See photos here.

“Buzz Kill” video produced last May on Urban Beekeeping in San Francisco