There were 13 people in attendance. Rosemary made the motion to accept the October 21, 2025 minutes as emailed out on November 1, 2025. Buddy seconded the motion. All were in favor.
Our guest speaker was Alan Madewell, Director of Environmental Field Support for the Carolinas at Duke Energy Corporation in Charlotte. Alan asked how Duke Energy could know where our bee hives were located. Some have registered their bee hives at https://nc.beecheck.org/ to help business, etc. know where our bees are located to prevent spraying, etc. near their hives. Duke Energy operates in the midwest, Florida and the Carolinas, providing natural gas and electric power. Duke Energy is governed by the state utilities commission. The Commission sets the rates and is appointed by the governor. Duke Energy has more customers than any other regulated utility industry in the country. About 35% of their energy comes from nuclear. The biggest portion of their energy comes from coal and natural gas, but they are trying to scale down. Duke Energy has 23 hydro facilities across NC. They have some unregulated solar, wind and battery storage sites. The state of NC has asked Duke Energy to achieve net-zero emissions by 2050.
Duke Energy has a natural resource commission to oversee their different programs: Catawba-Wateree Habitat Enhancement Program, Keowee-Toxaway Habitat Enhancement Program, Aquatic Plant Management, Wildlife and Industry Together (WAIT), and Pollinators Program. The WAIT programs includes twenty sites that NC Duke Energy uses property to make habitats for deer, wild turkey, and other wildlife. They have grants available for building fish habitats.
The WAIT Program includes about twenty sites in North Carolina where Duke Energy manages habitat for deer, wild turkey, and other wildlife. The Commission administers approximately $2.3 million in grant funding. Current projects include rebuilding native aquatic species in NC waterways, restoring nesting habitats for aquatic and bird wildlife, installing fishing line receptacles to keep unusable line out of the waterways.
Alan encouraged our beekeeping association to consider applying for some of these funds. He noted that strong, successful proposals often include projects that also offer a public-relations benefit to Duke Energy.
Duke Energy has right aways and needs to keep woody vegetation down to prevent power outages. Duke Energy uses LiDar (Light Detection and Ranging) mapping application to spot problem vegetation areas. They prefer native plants and pollinator-friendly species on right away sites. Duke Energy is working on a review process to identify problem areas and areas of concern, such as spray sites. There is a community and government relations committee at Duke Energy that oversees areas of concern for spraying. Alan will try and find out who the contact is for our area.
Alan plans to share the information we provided during the meeting with others at Duke Energy to help improve their understanding of local needs and concerns.
Please join us for our next meeting on December 16, 2025, 6:30 pm to socialize, 7 pm for the official meeting at the Community Services Building (106 E. Morgan St. Brevard, NC). We will have the elections for the 2026 board and a “Show and Tell” meeting. Please bring an item to share such as: homemade bee products, favorite tool/item, beekeeping suit modification, honey/equipment storage solutions, etc. If you don’t have anything to share, that’s ok. Please come to see what all the buzz is about.
