Honeybee Garden

In Bethesda, MD, Lincoln Property Company expanded its habitat efforts for bees and other pollinators at one of its suburban office parks. Lincoln chose the Rock Springs Business Park for its first pollinator garden, which complements beehives on the site. The company’s team, including VP of property management, Stuart Pechner (left), worked with Ruppert Landscape to bring this vision to fruition. Following is an overview of the project, and the process that contributed to this installation. Pollinators, such as birds, bats, bees, butterflies and other beneficial insects, play a crucial role in flowering plant reproduction and in the production of most fruits and vegetables. Pollinator numbers have suffered in recent decades due to mites, pesticides, pathogens, land development, and habitat fragmentation. Thirteen years ago, one week in June was designated by the U.S. Senate as National Pollinator Week. This was a step toward addressing the issue of declining pollinator populations. In 2020, National Pollinator Week was June 22-28. Recently, Ruppert Landscape, based in Laytonsville, MD, partnered with Lincoln Property Company to install a sustainable pollinator garden to surround newly installed beehives at Lincoln’s Rock Springs Business Park in Bethesda, MD. As part of its tenant engagement program, Lincoln partnered with Alvéole to create a sustainable property initiative for tenants to enjoy. Alveole works with businesses and schools in urban environments to install beehives, maintain the bees throughout the season, conduct workshops with employees and students, and harvest the honey. They had been installing beehives primarily on rooftops in the Washington, ...