Leading P.E.I. blueberry firm talks honeybees with U.S. food bloggers

One of P.E.I.'s largest blueberry producers is hosting a two-day summit on honeybeesfor several U.S. bloggers and social media experts.

JasperWyman and Soninvited 10 food bloggers from several U.S. centres, including Boston, Tennessee, California and Washington, DC, to come to P.E.I.

The goal is to bring more awareness to Wyman'sefforts to protect bees, as well as the importance of bee health on agriculture, according to organizer Molly Kravitz,a marketing expert with Connelly Partners based in Boston.

"It's very important for everyone to understand how important the honeybees are. We know how important bloggers are to consumers," she said. "We really wanted to get the message out there that Wyman's does care about the bees.So here they'll be learning about what Wyman's is doing to save them."

Company also a beekeeper

Wyman's manages 1,400 hives at their facility on P.E.I.with a resident apiarist, and is working with Agri Food Canada on a study on optimal habitat for native pollinators.

In the past, Wyman's has delivered testimony to a Congressional hearing on USDA funding for bee health, and delivered a keynote stakeholder speech at the 2010 Pollinator Conference at the Smithsonian Institution's Museum of Natural History.

The honeybee summit began Mondaynightwith a meal featuring blueberries at Fireworks in Fortune Bay, prepared by chef Michael Smith.

Tuesday, the group of food bloggers will be taken to Wyman's"bee utopia,"which is a large field full of flowers that provides the optimum habitat for bees.

Once they are suited up in full bee-keeping protective wear, the bloggers will also get a demonstration of how to keep bees in hives, from an expert.

"They are a sustainable company and they do use sustainable farming practices, and they do care about how they treat the land and the environment," said Kravitz."I don't think people realize how integralbees are to the food system in general."

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