About Us
Who are we? Why are we here? And what's that buzzing noise?

Bees Without Borders is the brainchild of Andrew Coté, former high school dropout and vagabond turned Fulbright Scholar and professor. He was born into a beekeeping family in Connecticut and is (at least) the 4th generation to carry on this ancient art. When he's not busy with hives, Andrew teaches English as a Second Language at Housatonic Community College and runs Silvermine Apiary, home of Andrew's Taste-Bud Bursting Local Wildflower Honey.

Through the U.S. State Department’s USAID, Andrew volunteered to go to Iraq for the summer of 2005 to assist Iraqi beekeepers.  In 2007 he spent the summer in the Niger Delta teaching beekeeping.  He spent January of 2008 in Kerala and Tamil Nadu in southern India, bring beekeeping skills to a small village cooperative.

Of course, for every mad genius there has to be someone who does the taxes. Jessica Trupin, 37, is the former Director of Membership and Special Projects for Executive Alliance, a nonprofit membership association based in Seattle.  A graduate of the University of Washington’s Evans School of Public Affairs, Jessica has spent the last six years working and volunteering in the nonprofit sector. Originally from South Norwalk, Jessica is delighted to be working on a project that contributes directly to the health and welfare of two of her favorite things – people and food.

How To Help
Join the hive...

Here are some ways you can be a part of BwB:

1. Sign up for our newsletter. We'll keep you updated on the progress of Bees Without Borders, but we won't share your email with anyone else. Send us your email at info@beeswithoutborders.org.
   
2. Host a honey tasting. We'll send you instructions for how to hold a sweet, sweet fundraiser for BwB (and if we're in town, we'll come crash your party too). Great to raise money and awareness.
3. Volunteer. Let us know what sorts of skills you have. We'll list volunteer opportunities on this website, so check back regularly.
4. Give dollars. Bees don't grow on trees.
   
5. Eat local honey. Why? Because there is nothing better

Programs

We teach beekeeping skills to groups of people in economically depressed areas of the globe as a means of poverty alleviation. This involves developing culturally appropriate training programs and materials for local beekeepers to increase honey yield and providing them with the opportunity to learn about and create new markets for their products.

We choose our sites based on a set of criteria that include motivation and community support, need and potential markets for honey-based products.

Our teams are made up of both skilled and general volunteers. All travel is paid for by volunteers, who sleep and eat in the homes of the beneficiaries.

Bees Without Borders is planning our first teaching trip to Ukraine.

Our Goals

• Respond to every single request for assistance that we receive, at the very least with useful information
• Maintain a global network of beekeepers and linguists to assist us in helping beekeepers make their craft more profitable
• Help beekeepers understand and create new products and markets from their unused or underused resources.
• Use every dollar wisely.  All funds are used pragmatically and for the betterment of beekeepers.

News

Village Voice, March 10th, 2008: Fork in the Road by Sarah DiGregorio

Food Network, September 18th, 2007: Bees Without Borders by Sarah Copeland

The News Times, June 4th, 2008: What's the Buzz?  Just Ask Andrew by Jonnie Bassaro

Contact Us

You can email us at infoATbeeswithoutborders.org. We'll do our best to get back to you as quickly as we can.

Last updated: August 11th, 2008