5 Meaningful Ways to Support Your Local Beekeepers

Local beekeepers play a vital role in our food system, environment, and community. From pollinating crops, orchards, and gardens to maintaining healthy honeybee populations, the impact of their work reaches far beyond the hive. We recently sat down with some of the Lancaster County Beekeepers Society team to see how we might collaborate in supporting beekeepers and raising awareness. Whether you’re a seasoned gardener, a local business, or simply someone who enjoys good honey, from the experts of LCBS, here are five meaningful ways to support your local beekeepers and pollinators.

Buy Local Honey and Hive Products

Purchasing honey, beeswax candles, pollen, propolis, or hive-based skincare directly from local beekeepers keeps your dollars in the community and helps sustain small-scale operations. Local honey often reflects the unique floral sources of our region, making it both delicious and distinctive. As an added bonus, many people find that local honey helps them better tolerate seasonal allergies. If you don’t know any beekeepers, check out your local farmer’s markets or small vendor events.

Plant Pollinator-Friendly Gardens

Beekeepers rely on healthy forage for their hives, and you can help by choosing flower, tree, and shrub varieties that provide nectar and pollen throughout the duration of the growing season. Native plants are especially valuable, as they are well-suited to local bees, but also to the regional growing conditions, which make them easier to grow and to maintain. Many greenhouses & nurseries now offer native plant sections for this reason. Even a small backyard or container garden can make a meaningful difference, particularly in corridors or areas with higher monocrop or more commercial farm plantings.

Use Bee-Safe Practices

Limiting or eliminating pesticide and herbicide use protects not only honeybees but also other native pollinators. When treatment is necessary, choose bee-friendly products and apply them in the evening when pollinators are less active. Whenever possible, take advantage of IPM (integrated pest management) measures. Be aware of when & how you do garden clean-up so that valuable habitats, praying mantis nests, etc., stay intact. Supporting businesses and farms that follow pollinator-safe practices also sends a powerful message. Generally speaking, in many cases, farms that take impactful measures to avoid or reduce the use of pesticides/herbicides do so at a higher cost. You can learn more about safe practices and additional helpful links here.

Support Local Beekeeping Organizations

Organizations like the Lancaster County Beekeepers Society provide education, mentoring, and outreach that benefit both new and experienced beekeepers. Attending events, participating in programs, or supporting sponsors who partner with these organizations helps strengthen the local beekeeping community as a whole. Fillmore Container and Fontana Candle Co. are proud sponsors of LCBS, who celebrate their 150th anniversary in 2026. You can sign up to be a member and have access to events and lectures for only $10/household, and you don’t need to keep bees!

Share Their Story

One of the simplest and most effective ways to support your local beekeepers is to spread the word. Follow local beekeepers and honey producers on social media, recommend them to friends, and share why supporting pollinators matters to you. Increased awareness leads to stronger community support and a healthier environment for bees. You can follow LCBS on Facebook @LancasterCountyBeekeepersSociety, or on Instagram @LancasterBeekeepers.

You can find more honey-centric articles – including honey-sweetened recipes and more on our Honey Resources page.