Cape Coral man helps bees, trees survive in a changing ecosystem

Love them or hate them, bees are necessary for our ecosystem. Two major cereal brands are teaming up to save these insects. With firsthand experience, a Cape Coral man provides a behind the scenes experience of beekeeping.

B. Keith Councell, the co-owner of Councell Farms, is a bee guy. He does all aspects of beekeeping, from removals of unwanted places to “making new bees up, adding queens to them.” But without honeybees, Councell said we have a serious problem.

But Councell is not the only one with eyes on the bees. Ahead of Earth Day, Cheerios and Nature Valley, teamed up to help bees and trees.

“All pollinators are very misunderstood,” Councell said. “Honeybees, most people don’t realize that they are the pillar that holds up all of agriculture and our civilization.”

On the bee front, Cheerios said its Oat Farms will host 3,300 acres of nectar and pollen rich-wildflowers.

If you want to help the bee and pollinator population, experts recommend planting flowers and avoiding the use of pesticides. Councell agrees and told us there needs to be more planting of “flowering things” that attract bees. After Councell Farms provides the bees a home, it is time for these insects to get to work.

“The final step for these will actually be in a watermelon field where they will do pollination there and then after that,” Councell said, “they’ll move on to squash and other crops.”