By Steve Barton
Photos by Steve Barton and Jan Nicodemus
Creekside Church of the Brethren in Elkhart, Indiana has been promoting environmental responsibility and stewardship for many years, since relocating to Elkhart’s south side. With 19 acres of land, they have been planting fruit trees and a Seed To Feed garden, working with Church Community Services in downtown Elkhart; providing hundreds of pounds of fresh produce each year for their food pantry.
With a creek at the edge of the property, (hence the name) and fields of hay and wildflowers surrounding the property, members soon realized the potential and advantage for honeybees to pollinate all of this. A memorial bequest by one of the members who loved bees provided the funds to purchase hives and supplies to begin beekeeping.
Ron Nicodemus, a retired educator and leader of the Bee Team, has provided education programs to local schools and senior centers over the last few years, promoting the benefits and need for honeybees, critical to the world’s food chain.
In 2024, the “Bee Team” held a seminar for CCS’s Teen Grower Program to introduce the idea for their trainees. While the initial partnership didn’t gain traction, CCS continued to promote the idea and plans to have their own hives and beekeeping program by 2027.
Each Fall, the team harvests the honey and bottles it for sale to church members while tithing to the church. A portion of the bottles is also given to shut-ins. Like any harvest, some years are better than others depending upon the weather conditions and proper hive management.
With aging members and a couple who have moved in past years, managing the hives has become more of an issue. Thanks to the help of a couple of professional beekeepers in the eara, the Bee Ministry is continuing in hopes of recruiting younger, ‘stronger’ beekeepers for the future at Creekside Church.
