Efforts to reverse ?epidemic? of abandoned property underscore stark signs of stratifying economy Timothy Paule?s path to revitalizing vacant lots in his hometown of Detroit started with a persistent cough.
In the fall of 2016, the commercial photographer found himself sick and tired from a cold that wouldn?t quit. After a litany of medicines failed him, someone manning a stall at a local farmers market suggested he turn to raw honey. The natural curative worked: It turns out that honey acts as a cough suppressant, among numerous other medical benefits.
Soon, Paule and fellow Detroit native Nicole Lindsey had another idea based on the restorative power of honey: The city?s neighborhoods, which could use more local, organic food options, were also covered in a patchwork of abandoned and vacant lots, typically overgrown with weeds, wildflowers, and fruit trees left behind by former residents. That synergy?an excess of flowering plants and lots of cheap space for pollinators to make honey?helped birth Detroit Hives, a nonprofit that now runs the city?s only urban apiary, one that was recently featured in a National Geographic documentary.
Detroit Hives
Detroit Hives offers a creative solution for one of the most vexing challenges in urban America today: how to revitalize and reclaim an excess of vacant land.

Detroit Hives
A collection of 32 beehives at a handful of sites across the city, Detroit Hives works on mult...