Episode Details

Welcome back to Sustainability Street, CPE’s podcast on the intersection of commercial real estate and the world we live in.

For this episode, I'm talking about urban beekeeping with Delaney Dameron, CEO of The Best Bees Company, which is based in Boston.

Beehives on commercial rooftops are spreading, making individual buildings active supporters of their local ecosystems and pollinator research. They can also improve tenant engagement through education, programming and branded honey.

Nature and biodiversity goals can often take a back seat to other sustainability targets like decarbonization and energy efficiency. But Dameron thinks the tide is changing.

 "We're kind of hitting a point in the marketplace where the market's catching up to understanding how critical this work is and how positive and exciting it can be from a business perspective, from a property and community perspective,” Dameron said.

Here are some highlights of our conversation: (2:02) The backstory of Best Bees (2:49) Dameron's journey to CEO (4:21) The benefits of beekeeping (5:53) Where do bees thrive best? (8:25) A great source of data (10:03) The economics of bees (11:17) The practical concerns and the myths
(14:34) Dos and don'ts of beehive hosting
(16:48) The growing role of biodiversity
(18:18) For further information