Sustainable Agriculture Brazil Project #63684

Beeworks Brazil: Beehives for Forest Families

by Science Voices

Project Report | Jun 18, 2026
Settling Down for the Winter

By Lev Horodyskyj | Founder

Sarah and Lara learn about bees from Gilberto

Greetings all,

As we approach the southern hemisphere winter, the bees and hives are settling down and becoming less active. We have a few updates from the hives and our visits to the sites:

A successful visit to Tekoa Nhanderu Porã Indigenous Community and Guapiruvu with Science Voices volunteers Sarah (visiting from the US) and Lara (from São Paulo, Brazil) to explore the communities and the bee projects
Testing and demonstrating bee-counting sensors to help monitor hive health, which Sarah is developing
Gilberto, leader of the Guapiruvu community, is rennovating a building on his property where eventually native bee honey (as well as cacao and other forest products) can be processed to increase income in the community

There was some sad news for some of the hives. One of Gilberto's hives was killed by pesticides accidentally brought into the hive by bees who were foraging in parts of the community that rely heavily on agrotoxins to manage their banana crops. Elizabeth reported that she lost several hives to the lemon bee, which can invade and quickly destroy jataí hives. Because the community has learned how to replicate hives during lessons this past year, the work for the spring will be to grow the exisiting hives and replace the lost ones. Additionally, we will be looking at expanding the kinds of native bees in the meliponario that can help deal with the lemon bee problem more naturally.

Also, mark your calendars for July 15th! That is July Bonus Day at GlobalGiving, where donations of $100 to $1,500 will be matched and make us eligible for bonus prizes. We hope you'll contribute to help support our Ukrainian team!

With gratitude,

Lev

Sarah annoys some bees with sensors to count them

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