New Atlantic City Electric initiative aims to show importance of honey bees on the environment

CARNEYS POINT, New Jersey (WPVI) -- Unique installments at the offices of Atlantic City Electric are aiming to educate and inspire the community.

Last Fall, Atlantic City Electric teamed up with Mill Creek Apiary to set up three hives full of buzzing honey bees. They hope to promote the various beneficial properties of pollinators - most specifically, honey bees.

Jason Shoff, owner of Mill Creek Apiary, says that honey bees have a tremendous impact on the environment and especially on local crops.

"About 60% of our fruits and vegetables in New Jersey alone are dependent on pollination," he said.

Pollinators across the country have been on the decline according to Sandy Fisher, VP of Support Service with Pepco Holdings. She says that factors include climate change and loss of habitat.

The Hive Dive project is Atlantic City Electric's way to try and increase the number of pollinators across North America and show and teach people about the importance of honey bees.

Atlantic City Electric executives were given the opportunity to open and get up and close with the hives.

"It's a great place to start the discussion about pollinators, what's ailing pollinators and what we can do to help," said Shoff.

The group was also given a demonstration about how to harvest the honey in the hives, followed by a tasting of the fresh honey.

"The bees are just the first step and then we hopefully can take this elsewhere and make it bigger every time we go along," said Christine Savage, Senior Environmental Project Manager at Atlantic City Electric.

Hive Dives are currently only open to Atlantic City Electric employees.