On June 8, Highland Brewing in Asheville, North Carolina, was humming with excitement as locals gathered in “pollinator-themed costumes” for the Fourth Annual Honey Festival.
As people sampled honey, danced to live music by “Queen Bee and the Honey Lovers,” and entered the globally renowned Black Jar Honey Contest, the Center for Honeybee Research raked in donation after donation.
The sunny sight was in stark contrast to nine months prior, when the same brewery had “closed indefinitely” after Hurricane Helene wreaked havoc on the city.
The disaster, which displaced thousands, also hit local bees hard, too.
Jaik Smith, an Asheville Honey Fest organizer, told Spectrum News 13 that they lost “a significant amount” of bee populations in the storm. Especially honeybees.
“It’s important to ensure that we are able to replinish the bees and make sure they’re happy with pollinator gardens, and essentially just making sure we can buy more bees and get them back into our hives”
According to North Carolina State University, over 500 hives were lost across Western North Carolina in the aftermath of Hurricane Helene.