Bee Keeping Squad volunteers in white suits inspecting an open hive

Beekeeping

Meet the Bee Keeping Squad

Honeybees are part of life at Veterans Healing Farm. Our Bee Keeping Squad raises and cares for the farm's hives, and new volunteers are welcome.

Join the Bee Keeping Squad About the squad

The work

What the Bee Keeping Squad does

Beekeeping is one of the ways we practice agritherapy at the farm. Working with bees teaches patience, focus, and calm, and gives veterans a peaceful, purposeful job outdoors.

Caring for the hives

Squad members raise and care for the farm's honeybees: building and cleaning hives, bringing in wild swarms, splitting colonies, collecting honey, and keeping the hives healthy.

No experience is needed. You learn as you go, alongside our Lead Beekeeper.

15 gallonsof honey harvested from the farm's hives in 2026Source: 2026 Year-End Report (opens in a new tab)

Your squad leader

Michael Morano, Lead Beekeeper, in a bee veil holding up a capped honeycomb frame

Michael MoranoLead Beekeeper · U.S. Coast Guard veteran

Roots

A short history of beekeeping for veterans

Beekeeping as a way to heal after service is more than a century old.

1919 A government pamphlet recommends beekeeping for World War I veterans home with shell shock, the term then used for what we now call PTSD.
2015 Heroes to Hives begins, and grows into a nine-month beekeeping course for veterans through Michigan State University Extension.
2018 Bees4Vets starts in Reno, Nevada, inspired by that 1919 pamphlet, and works with university researchers to study whether beekeeping helps.

Most of what we know so far comes from veterans themselves, who describe a sense of purpose, calm, and focus. Formal research is still catching up. Our Bee Keeping Squad carries on the same quiet, hands-on work.

On the calendar

Upcoming Bee Keeping Squad events

Beekeeping classes and squad meetings coming up at the farm.

Loading events… If nothing appears, see the event calendar.

Get involved

Want to work with the bees?

Join the Bee Keeping Squad as a volunteer, or help keep the hives and the farm going with a gift.

Volunteer with the Bee Keeping Squad Donate