A Honey of a Indiegogo Campaign

Now on Indiegogo is a fundraiser to help rural beekeepers in Kenya fend off honey badgers and otherwise improve their operations. The charity involved sports the wonderful name, ‘Bees Without Borders,’ which was founded by New York father and son beekeepers Norm and Andrew Cote.

Bees Without Borders is trying to raise $20,000 by Christmas Day for their Kenya project.

Honey badgers, whose habitat is found in Africa, India and Southeast Asia, sport a wide skunk-like stripe, are more fearless than badgers, but are most closely related to weasels. And, true to their names, they love honey, making them “the bane of the existence of the East African beekeeper,” say the Cotes on the Indiegogo site. That's a honey badger on the left.

But while vicious, the honey badger's honey-seeking ways can be defeated by careful fencing. Volunteers will travel on their own dime to Kenya and stay in the villages of the Sambura and Haita peoples. They will build the fencing, provide beekeeping classes, donate some beekeeping supplies, advocate on behalf of the ancient apiary art, and provide a few nickels when they depart for unforeseen expenses. The $20,000 will provide for 10 fences in 10 villages.

Honey, of course, is a remarkable substance. It’s naturally anti-bacterial and can flow, if slowly, even at below-freezing temperatures. You can use honey as a wound dressing because it naturally creates hydrogen peroxide, which acts as an antiseptic.

At the lowest levels, the Indiegogo perks include your chance to name a bee, that is get a photo of a bee (plus a few dozen more) for $5, and name the queen (plus a few dozen sisters and daughters) for $10.

For $1,000 Andrew Cotes’ will give you a tour of some of his 40 New York City rooftop beehives. For $100 you can get a jar of honey from one of the hives Bees Without Borders has helped set up in rural East Africa.

If you’re the type that prides herself or himself on giving Christmas or Hanukkah gifts that no one else would think of, maybe this Indiegogo project is for you.

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