Let's Build Gonave, Haiti!

A partner that is helping Let's Build Gonave Haiti, and Hurko has distributed sunflower seeds on the island of La Gonave at different remote villages on the island of La Gonave. What you need to understand about Sunflowers are they love the sun, hence the name, but also can provide oil, seeds for humans and chickens, but also the plant is loaded with pollen.  Often sunflowers will have so much pollen that the green leaves are covered in pollen dust.  Also the sunflowers produce nectar as well.  The plant is really a one stop shop for honeybees. By giving seeds away to different villagers, it allows the plant to be established, and then grow into a strong plant.  As the honeybee hives expand on the island, there is already established hardy plants for which the honeybees can rely on.  Even with no hives in the immediate area of the sunflowers, honeybees will explore the island to find what is within their flight range from the hive.  These sunflowers wi...

The honeybee fodder program relies heavily on the newly formed La Gonave Wildflower Association.  This association will grow and plant the various wildflowers and trees needed to support a large scale honeybee operation on the island of La Gonave. Currently in Haiti hives don't produce a large supply of honey.  The hives produce enough for them to survive and then a little extra honey, but not large extra stores of honey.  The problem is due to the lack of flowers and trees that honeybees rely on.  The use of trees to support the charcoal cooking industry has a massive effect on the environment.  Many plants can't exist in full sun, but love the climate of Haiti.  With the clearance of big trees, it affects these plants.  So with our cooperative, we have a responsibility to get off on the right foot.  The second phase of the honeybee fodder program is now starting.  The idea is that we will now supply plants that will aid in the health o...

Norway made news about their goal of creating a bee highway.  Their plan is that all types of bees and butterflies would benefit from this, and many of the bees are considered endangered.  So along the "bee highway", one will find pollen plants, nectar plants, some plants that do both, shelter for bees looking for a new home, etc.  It is looked at as a radical concept that is modeled after the US Butterfly Program .  This is designed to help protect and multiply the Monarch Butterfly as it makes the yearly journey to Mexico from the US. La Gonave is secretly doing a similar project, yet on a much smaller scale.  Our highway would first go from the oceanfront through the city of Anse-a-Galets, and then out to the hillside.  Along the way, would be pollen plants, high nectar producing plants, water, and shelter.  Our goal is to make the life of the honeybee less stressful.  By creating our own version of a highway, we can ensure that beekeepers c...