COBBLE HILL — Three times a month, Father Alexandre Morard heads up a stairwell at St. Paul Church in Cobble Hill, suits up, and heads to a spot above the sacristy.
A friend gave him some of this beekeeping equipment years ago but he put it in storage, until he joined this church in 2019.
“I say oh yeah maybe I can start that now,” Father Morard said. “So, but no I never had the idea before, never done that before. Just to see all these cloud of bees coming out and flying out around you, that’s impressive.”
The bees are currently foraging for nectar and building up the colony for winter. In August, the fruits of his labor have paid off with sweet honey.
“Then they cap with wax that cell with the honey to protect it from any fermentation and any impurities,” Father Morard said.
Father Morard doesn’t keep it all to himself. He learned about the demand for raw honey and sells little jars to benefit a Brooklyn-based non-profit, Con-solatio, a mission organization.
“They don’t work, they don’t receive any support from the local authorities or a church there, so they have to find a way to support their mission,” Father Morard said.
He says it’s a way for him to unwind when he’s not celebrating Mass, but it also helped in his role as a priest.
“I like the fact that it also allows me to connect with parishioners and other people because I sell the honey or because people know that I have these bees, so their children want to know about it,” Father Morard said.
Father Morard will let the queen bee and her workers continue their labor until his next visit.