What The Bee Conservancy does

The Bee Conservancy (formerly The Honeybee Conservancy) is a New York-based nonprofit organization founded in 2008 that focuses on native bee conservation through habitat creation, education, and advocacy. Operating as a project of Social and Environmental Entrepreneurs, the organization employs 1-10 staff and serves a broad constituency including schools, community gardens, urban farms, corporate partners, and foundation funders. Its core programs include pollinator habitat development, the Sponsor-a-Hive initiative (launched 2016), the Food Justice Award (launched 2022), education programs such as Master Beekeeper certification, and community science initiatives like "Bee the Solution" (launched 2025).

The organization generates revenue through diversified nonprofit funding streams: individual donations, corporate partnerships (including Garnier in 2021 and Zarbee's), foundation grants (NY Community Trust, Roy A. Hunt Foundation), and peer-to-peer fundraising. Its flagship institutional partnership is the Port Authority of New York & New Jersey pollinator corridor, established in 2022, which provides habitat across major transit infrastructure and serves as a high-visibility platform for the mission. The organization also engages in regulatory advocacy, notably partnering with the Natural Resources Defense Council in 2023 to support the Birds and Bees Protection Act.

The Bee Conservancy differentiates itself from honeybee-focused organizations by emphasizing native pollinator species and integrating conservation with food justice and community science. Its 2022 rebrand from "Honeybee Conservancy" to "Bee Conservancy" signaled this strategic positioning. The organization's model relies on volunteer engagement, institutional partnerships, and grant funding rather than earned revenue, with a 15-year track record of program delivery and brand recognition in the conservation sector.

Name

The Bee Conservancy

Legal name

The Bee Conservancy

Website

https://thebeeconservancy.org

Company type

Private

Founded year

2009

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

1–10 employees

Short description

The Bee Conservancy is a New York-based nonprofit founded in 2008 that conserves native bees through habitat creation, education, and advocacy. It serves schools, community gardens, and urban farms while partnering with foundations, corporations, and government agencies including the Port Authority of New York & New Jersey.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Headquarters

HQ city

New York

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2B and B2C

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Operations, Marketing or Sales, Others

Revenue model

1. Donations and Charitable Contributions: Individual donations from supporters who want to help protect bees and build healthier, more resilient futures for all.
2. Corporate Partnerships: Partnerships with corporations like Garnier for Sponsor-a-Hive program and Zarbee's for Food Justice Award sponsorship.
3. Foundation Grants: Support from foundations including The New York Community Trust for pollinator corridor development and Roy A. Hunt Foundation for Food Justice Award Program expansion.
4. Peer-to-Peer Fundraising: Online fundraising platform where supporters can engage their networks of friends, family, and professional communities.

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels4 records

Marketing channels6 records

Core offering

The Bee Conservancy is a nonprofit organization that delivers pollinator conservation through community-based programs including the placement of free native bee homes and honeybee hives via the Sponsor-a-Hive program, the Food Justice Award supporting urban farms addressing food insecurity, pollinator habitat development with municipal and corporate partners, education and Master Beekeeper training, and community science initiatives such as the "Bee the Solution" pollinator survey.

Product overview

The Bee Conservancy is a nonprofit conservation organization (formerly The Honeybee Conservancy) offering a portfolio of community-based programs centered on pollinator protection. Its core offerings include Pollinator Habitat Development (creating native plant gardens and corridors with municipal and corporate partners), the Sponsor-a-Hive program (placing bee homes with underserved communities), the Food Justice Award (supporting urban farms and community gardens with training and habitat), Education Programs (including Master Beekeeper training and kids activities), and Community Science initiatives (including the 'Bee the Solution' pollinator survey). The organization also runs the PANYNJ Pollinator Corridor initiative in partnership with the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• Sponsor-a-Hive A program that places free native bee homes and honeybee hives with schools, community gardens, urban farms, and environmental centers across the U.S. and Canada to empower underserved communities to grow food, bolster local ecology, and protect keystone species. Awardees receive equipment, training, and ongoing support.
• Food Justice Award A customized award program providing training, equipment, pollinator habitat installation, and mentorship to urban farms and community gardens that sustainably grow culturally relevant and nutritious produce for food-insecure communities. Sponsors include Zarbee's and the Roy A. Hunt Foundation.
• Pollinator Habitat Development A program that collaborates with community, municipal, and corporate partners to create perennial, pollinator-friendly native plant gardens and corridors in urban, underserved, and industrial landscapes, providing food, shelter, and nesting sites for bees while mitigating erosion, absorbing stormwater runoff, improving air quality, and reducing heat island effect.
• Education Programs Training programs, events, classroom tools, and the Master Beekeeper Program that build a community of educational stewards dedicated to saving bees. Includes Kids Activities, Events and Webinars (free pollinator walks, Hive Dives, habitat tours, World Bee Day celebrations), and the Master Beekeeper Program.
• Bee the Solution (Community Science Pollinator Survey) A community science initiative engaging New Yorkers (and through iNaturalist, naturalists worldwide) in documenting pollinators through a pollinator survey and iNaturalist project to fill gaps in urban biodiversity data and inform local conservation.

Quantifiable outcome

• More than 1,500 perennial native plants installed across PANYNJ sites as of spring 2024
• +2 more outcomes

Named customers4 records

Segments7 records

Ideal customer profiles4 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Feature3 records

Partnerships

Three partnerships are on record, tiered core and flagship.

• Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC)coreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 January 2023TBC partnered with NRDC as key advocate leading up to December 2023 passage of New York State's Birds and Bees Protection Act, which curbs use of neurotoxic neonicotinoid pesticides. Partnership included OpEds, legislator meetings, drafting letters, and testimony before NY State Assembly Environmental Conservation Committee.
• Port Authority of New York & New Jersey (PANYNJ)flagshipStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 January 2022Multi-year partnership to implement new landscaping and maintenance strategies focused on nurturing wildlife. Includes Liberty Park at World Trade Center, Brooklyn Marine Terminal, Howland Hook Marine Terminal, Staten Island Bridges, Port Newark, and Port Jersey. As of spring 2024, resulted in more than 1,500 perennial native plants installed. Funded in part by The New York Community Trust.
• My Home ParkcoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerTBC's native plant partner founded by a bee biologist committed to building biodiversity and making native plant gardening accessible. MHP donates one native plant for every four sold to Food Justice Awardees.

Scale indicators7 records

Recent moves6 records

Expansion highlights5 records

Direct peers

• Center for Biological Diversity: TBC cites the Center for Biological Diversity as the source for the 1-in-4 native bee species at-risk statistic, indicating closely aligned missions. The Center is a leading advocacy organization that pursues pollinator protection through litigation and policy, complementing TBC's habitat-driven approach.
• Xerces Society for Invertebrate Conservation: The leading U.S. nonprofit dedicated to invertebrate conservation, with a major focus on pollinators including native bees. TBC explicitly uses the Xerces Society's bee monitoring protocol, making it a directly comparable peer in pollinator habitat science, monitoring methodology, and policy advocacy.
• Pollinator Partnership: National nonprofit focused on pollinator health through habitat creation, education, and corporate partnerships. Operates similar programs (Bee Friendly Gardening, corporate Bee Friendly certification) targeting the same community garden, municipal, and corporate ESG audiences as TBC.
• Monarch Joint Venture: A national partnership focused on monarch butterfly and pollinator conservation through habitat creation and education. Operates with a similar nonprofit/coalition model and overlapping donor base, and TBC explicitly monitors monarchs alongside bees under the Xerces protocol.

Broad incumbents

• American Beekeeping Federation: Industry association representing beekeepers, focused on honeybee health and beekeeper advocacy. Different primary stakeholder (commercial beekeepers vs. native pollinators), but adjacent in bee-related policy, education, and member-driven funding models.
• National Wildlife Federation: Large U.S. conservation nonprofit with Garden for Wildlife and certified wildlife habitat programs that overlap directly with TBC's pollinator garden work. Operates at significantly larger scale and competes for similar corporate and foundation conservation funding.
• Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC): TBC partnered with NRDC on the Birds and Bees Protection Act advocacy, indicating overlapping mission in pollinator-protective pesticide policy. NRDC is a much larger environmental organization with pollinator work embedded within a broader climate, water, and wildlife portfolio.
• Sierra Club Foundation: Major environmental nonprofit with pollinator and biodiversity grantmaking. While not a direct service-delivery peer, it competes with TBC for foundation and corporate donor attention within the broader environmental/conservation funding pool.

Emerging players

• The Honeybee Lab (formerly Bugonia, project-style entities): Placeholder note: omitted due to inability to confidently identify a single comparable emerging player; included as a category for smaller, urban-focused pollinator habitat startups that compete for the same corporate ESG and municipal partnership dollars.
• Beyond Pesticides: Nonprofit that advocates against neonicotinoid and other pesticide use, aligning with TBC's policy advocacy around the NY Birds and Bees Protection Act. Comparable niche advocacy footprint, though narrower than TBC's habitat-creation remit.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat4 records

Key risks5 records

Key highlights6 records

Customer concentration

• Xx.com/bee_conservancy

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles1 record

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about The Bee Conservancy