Former Appalachian Coal Miners Learn Beekeeping in Free Program

As a means of lifting former coal miners out of poverty, a West Virginia nonprofit is retraining them to be beekeepers. Over the course of the last 28 years, high-paying mining jobs have dwindled from 132,000 to 53,000, and former mineworkers have found themselves in need of a new occupation. the Appalachian Beekeeping Collective has  trained 35 beekeepers, with plans to train another 50 during the upcoming weeks. Once the budding beekeepers complete the free training, they are also given all the equipment they will need for their new profession, and the Collective will buy the honey they produce.