Are honeybees the next sustainability trend in the building industry? A Tigard-based roofing company believes it could be – and is welcoming countless numbers of the insects to its own roofs.

Snyder Roofing & Sheet Metal, in celebration of its 100th anniversary, has hired The Best Bees Company to place beehives on the roofs of Snyder’s offices in Tigard and Snohomish, Washington. The milestone of a century in business led the company to increase its investment in the environment around its offices, Snyder Roofing CEO Josh Mullen said.

“At a time in our world where we see so much going on that impacts our communities, I believe that finding partners like Best Bees that will have a positive impact on our ecosystem is what we should be putting our efforts into to create a sustainable community for generations to come,” he stated via email.

The hives will help grow the urban honeybee population and allow local beekeepers to collect data on bee health. That data is used for comparisons with bees’ health in other cities across the U.S., said Phoenix Susak, a beekeeping consultant at The Best Bees Company.

The Best Bees Company was founded in Boston in 2010 and has since expanded to 12 other cities – including Portland in 2015. According to the company’s website, in Portland “plant sources tend to be biodiverse and free from harmful pesticides.”

The business’ mission is “turning gray spaces into green spaces,” Susak said, by adding hives to underutilized spaces like roofs.

The Best Bees Company handles all caretaking duties related to the bees. A local beekeeper regularly visits the hives to collect data, harvest honey and build more frames as the bee population grows.

At the end of each harvest season, each business receives at least 10 pounds (150 3-ounce jars) of honey produced by bees in the hives on their roof. The Best Bees Company labels jars with the company’s name and the date that the honey was harvested.

Before hives are placed, Susak said, a beekeeper visits the site to find the best spot to place each 2-foot-by-3-foot box. It’s important that they face south and be out of the way of window washers and HVAC equipment. Also, each roof must be accessible via a stairway, not a ladder.

A survey was sent to Snyder Roofing’s employees (numbering more than 300) to make sure they would be comfortable with the bees on-site. After zero concerns were expressed, Mullen said the company moved forward.

The hives were installed last month. The Snohomish office received its bees Thursday, but the Tigard location won’t receive its bees until wet weather subsides in the Portland-metro area.

The whole endeavor, Mullen said, has been educational and exciting. Ultimately, Snyder Roofing would like to introduce its customers to The Best Bees Company, he said. But the contractor first wanted its own bees.

“Call us the guinea pig,” he said.

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