Veterans benefit from therapeutic beekeeping

LANSING, Mich. — Beekeeping is an emerging therapeutic intervention being used by the Department of Veterans Affairs and the Heroes to Hives program to teach mindfulness and positively impact veteran mental health.

Heroes to Hives was created in 2015 and touts being the largest agricultural education program for U.S. service members.

It’s a nine-month beginning beekeeping education course that’s free to service members and their dependents. More than 15,000 people have been trained so far.

“I’m an Army veteran myself,” said Adam Ingrao, cofounder of the Heroes to Hives program, during a webinar hosted by AgrAbility.

“It’s hard trying to find the motivation that you had when you were in a unit. We were doing missions together. Everything was so important in that unit. It’s hard when you’re out and then you’re all on your own.

“Redirecting motivation to something that’s positive — like protecting the most important managed pollinator on the planet, honeybees — that is something that a lot of people can get behind.”

Working with honeybees is a constant lesson in mindfulness, Ingrao said.

“If you’re not being mindful, if you’re not paying attention to what’s going on, if you’re thinking about other things, you’re letting the stories run wild in your head, you’re going to get sloppy,” he said. “You’re going to get stung.”

It’s a reminder to be present — a chance to be grateful and focus on something good.

“We are seeing massive reductions in anxiety and depression when veterans are working with honeybees in this kind of a controlled setting,” Ingrao said.

“It’s not just we’re going in working with honeybees. We’re doing these mindfulness practices, then working with honeybees.”

For the last 10 years, the course has only been available to service members and their families. Now it is open to everybody.

“We’re trying to basically create a community of skilled beekeepers because bees have been having a rough time,” Ingrao said.

Learn more about the program at miffs.org/heroes-to-hives.