In the heart of Detroit, we’ve formed a sweet partnership with Bees in the D, a nonprofit dedicated to pollinator education and conservation. Together we’re turning solar fields into thriving habitat – not just for clean energy, but for honeybees.

Solar panels and pollinators: A perfect pairing

At our company’s O’Shea park in Detroit, rows of solar panels share space with wildflowers and beehives. These solar sites have been transformed into pollinator-friendly ecosystems. Because of our partnership with Bees in the D, we are able to support biodiversity, improve soil health and thanks to the bees, produce local honey.

“We partnered with Bees in the D because they are a non-profit that works to educate and protect all pollinators throughout metro-Detroit,” shared Kristen LeForce, senior engineer, Environmental, and organizer of the Bees in the D partnership. “We wanted to optimize the benefits of O’Shea solar, so we aren’t just creating energy, we’re creating food and habitat!”

Bees in the D: Urban beekeeping with a purpose 

Founded by Brian Peterson-Roest and his husband, Brian Roest-Peterson, Bees in the D has placed hundreds of hives across metro Detroit, including rooftops, gardens and now solar farms. The organization educates communities about the importance of pollinators while producing small-batch honey that’s as local as it gets.

“Solar fields are ideal,” says Peterson-Roest. “They’re quiet, undisturbed, and full of sun-loving plants. Our bees thrive there. “As climate challenges mount, this Detroit-born initiative offers a hopeful blueprint. Solar panels don’t have to compete with nature, they can coexist with it.

So how is honey harvested from our solar fields?

First the hives are monitored to ensure the bee colony is healthy and productive. Since solar fields are generally undisturbed, bees thrive among the wildflowers we’ve planted at sites like O’Shea. By late summer or early fall, bees “cap” the honeycomb cells, sealing them with wax to preserve the honey. 

Once they’ve made sure the honeycomb are capped, beekeepers remove the wooden frames filled with honeycombs from their hive boxes, making sure enough honey is left behind for the bees to survive the winter. Since the hives are at a solar site, this process is done with care to avoid disrupting our infrastructure and the bees’ foraging pattern, a process the Bees in the D team are experts at.

Next the wax caps are removed using a special tool to expose the honey inside the comb cells. The honey is now ready to be extracted. The frames are then placed in a centrifugal extractor, a device that spins the combs to release the honey. The honey flows out and is filtered to remove wax particles and any other impurities.

After the honey is filtered it’s poured into jars and labeled with custom labels from Bees in the D. Jars are labeled with a QR code so recipients of this sweet treat can track where it came from.

“Their honey sales help to provide funding to fulfill the mission of their non-profit so we often donate the honey back to Bees in the D to package and sell if we don’t see a business use for it that year. Last year the bees at O’Shea made 240 jars worth of honey!” added LeForce. 

Once the honey is harvested and packaged, the clean frames are returned to the hives so the bees can reuse the wax and start their process all over again. This model not only produces delicious honey, it demonstrates how renewable energy and agriculture can work hand-in-hand.