From Cecil Bothwell’s campaign:
Asheville, NC— Asheville City Councilmember Cecil Bothwell will speak at an official Bee City dedication ceremony at 1:30 p.m. today as Asheville becomes the first Bee City USA, an honor thanks in part to Bothwell’s tireless advocacy on City Council. The dedication ceremony will be held at the Veterans Memorial adjacent to Roger McGuire Green in Pack Square.
As Council liaison to the Sustainability Committee on Energy and the Environment (SACEE) and the Tree Commission, Bothwell brought to Council the effort to make Asheville the first Bee City, USA during his first term. The goal of the program is to consider pollinators and the honeybee population when shaping Asheville’s municipal planning, its recommendations to homeowners and developers, and its policy concerning the keeping of bees within City limits.
The program is incredibly important for Asheville. “Honeybees are in deep trouble, suffering colony collapse, disorder, and loss of habitat around the world. On the other hand, western North Carolina has one of the most diverse honey-crop environments in the world and the largest bee-keeper club in the country,” Bothwell explained.
“All of our flowering plants, which include a huge proportion of our food crops, depend on pollinators. As a reporter and author I have written about multiple threats to a wide range of pollinators since the early 1990s. None face more serious problems than our honeybees,” Bothwell said.
The Bee City program has been supported by Bothwell and the Buncombe County Chapter of the NC State Beekeepers Association. For more information on Bee City USA, visit www.beecityusa.org.
Incumbent Cecil Bothwell is running for re-election for another four-year term on the Asheville City Council. Bothwell is an investigative reporter, builder, organic gardener and public servant.
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