On a rainy morning, I came across the story of Deborah Post, and it instantly lightened up my day.
Bee populations in Holland are decreasing rapidly, while they are essential to growing our everyday fruit and vegetables. Deborah, owner of an organic juice brand, decided to help the bees in Holland. Her idea: to give the bees virtually the only space in Holland that is guaranteed to be free from pesticides: the soft shoulder of the motorway. She initiated the development of a special blend of seeds, designed to provide as many flowers as possible throughout the whole summer. In a video broadcast on local TV and YouTube, she called in the help of anyone who could help.
Collaborating with citizens as well as the local council and other government branches in Holland, the first official ‘honey highway’ is now a fact: in the autumn of 2015, a strip of 7 kilometers (4 miles) near The Hague has been sewn with the special honey seed blend. In addition, school in Holland are getting involved now too. This month, 5000 school children of 18 schools have sewn seeds alongside the streets near their schools and in their own front yards. The fathers of these children are getting involved by building bee shelters out of scrap wood, reed and whatever other natural material they can find.
Deborah organises events on a regular basis to keep people informed and involved, allowing her to expand her initative and save more bees. I have kept an eye on her website (www.honeyhighway.nl, in Dutch) for a while now, and it has grown a lot in the past couple of months. People can now visit a bee farm, get a walking tour to the honey highway, learn about bees while having dinner, buy seed or gift vouchers and even buy a bottle of biological wine in a case that is a bee shelter.
Deborah is far from finished with her initiative; there are many miles of motorway in Holland (and eventually: Europe) to cover with flowers...
Want to help Deborah and the bees in Holland? Honey Highway is looking for sponsors and for volunteers to keep an eye on the sea of flowers that will emerge this summer. Contact Deborah on info@honeyhighway.nl
