Bees are sometimes misunderstood and often underappreciated. Bees are not naturally aggressive and will usually sting only when threatened. Bees provide us with a very important service; they pollinate our crops, for free.  According to the FAO, around 33% of all plant products that we consume require bee pollination.  If it weren’t for honeybees, you and I couldn’t enjoy juicy strawberries and blueberries, crunchy apples, or even wear cotton clothing, as those all come from plants that require honeybee pollination.

As well as pollinating crops and native plants, bees provide us with the only non-perishable food, honey. In addition to tasting fantastic, honey has excellent medicinal properties. With its high acidity, honey inhibits the growth of bacteria and viruses. Not only does honey inhibit microbial growth, it actually kills bacteria, stimulates new tissue growth, and suppresses inflammation. The medicinal qualities of honey are utilized at the GSTC to treat turtles with infections.

Thanks to the help of Jim Gertis and Stacia Hendricks (two local beekeepers), the GSTC now has a hive of its own. Just a short walk from the Center lays a hive full of thousands of bees making honey to help our turtles fight off infection and give them a fast recovery time, allowing them to return to the ocean.