Bees behind bars give prisoners a second chance

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The buzz around declining bee populations is getting louder in an unexpected place. Bee keepers are training in Littlerock, but unlike the bees, they're on lockdown.

"If I'm calm around the bees, I'm alright," Jack Boysen said.

Boysen has learned that successful bee keeping requires a talent that's more like a life skill. Nearly his entire life, he remembers having a bee phobia.

"Still kind of do," he laughed.

That may seem surprising for a man who works and lives in a place that would scare most people.

Cedar Creek Corrections Center is one of 12 Washington prisons that host the Sustainability in Prisons Project.

"We get into the hives just to see if everything's going ok," explained inmate Bill Anglemeyer.

The beekeeper's program is one of several opportunities to learn sustainable farming.

"It's better than a lot of jobs in prison," Boysen said.

Network Manager Joslyn Trivett counts 3,000 inmates involved across the state.

"We're taking on sustainability in a way we see as socially sustainable," she said. "You don't throw anything away."

Nothing - not even dreams about a second chance.

"It's kind of hard for us to get jobs out there," Boysen said.

Boysen and Anglemeyer knew nothing about bees. Now, they can spot disease, pests and healthy gathering of pollen.

Their teacher, Glenn Epling, is a corrections officer who is also a professional beekeeper.

"It gives me an open communication line we can talk about and share," he said. "It helps me bring something to these inmates that I'm finding out they're very interested in."

It also gives the bees a chance to communicate their own lessons about life.

"She's breaking out right now," Boysen pointed out. "She just turned into a worker. You can tell because she's new to the world."

He spotted a bee that's new to the world like he will be in about six months. Boysen is a 29-year-old felon who's spent almost a decade in prison.

"It gives us more opportunities, more chances," he said.

The Sustainability in Prisons Project is currently working with the Olympia Bee Keeper's Association to secure funding for a beekeeper apprentice certification program.

Boysen plans to start his own hives and sell organic honey for a living. He's excited about helping struggling bee populations recover their future. They've helped him recover a future too.

"You feel like you're doing something not only for your own benefit, but for the rest of the world," he said.[link://www.king5.com/story/tech/science/environment/2015/08/28/bees-behind-bars-give-prisoners-a-second-chance/71290592/|














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1. Very good.