Sweet as Honey: Jaklitsch/Gardner Designs Apiary for Follow the Honey
It began on summer vacation a decade ago. Relaxing in Maine, Stephan Jaklitsch of Jaklitsch/Gardner Architects read about the precarious state of the honeybee population. Back home, that revelation led him to apprentice at the New York City Beekeepers Association and start his own hives. So when Follow the Honey, a company devoted to sustainable beekeeping, needed someone to design an apiary in Tanzania, pro bono, as a way to boost the local economy, founder Mary Canning looked to Jaklitsch’s partner, Mark Gardner.
The resulting Mizengo Pinda Asali & Nyuki Sanctuary is projected to break ground in 2016. A honey extraction and processing facility, housed in 10,000 square feet of hivelike brick structures set around planted courtyards, will come first. Phase two is a welcome center and a marketplace.