Hives for Heroes Amicus Brief Accepted by West Virginia’s Highest Court
Sometimes service means lending a hand. Sometimes it means lending your voice. And sometimes it means standing beside someone when that voice needs to be heard.
Hives for Heroes is grateful for the opportunity to provide our perspective to the Supreme Court of Appeals of West Virginia through an amicus curiae brief in the ongoing case involving Hives for Heroes Mentor M. Alex Urban, the City of South Charleston, and questions surrounding responsible residential beekeeping.
For us, this moment is about far more than a legal filing.
It is about what community is supposed to look like.
Every day across America, Hives for Heroes works at the most personal level imaginable: one person sitting beside another, often at a beehive, building trust. Veterans, First Responders, mentors, families, and community members come together through a shared mission centered on connection, purpose, relationships, and service.
There is tremendous power in that simple model.
We help people discover a new mission after service. We provide access to education and mentorship. We help create relationships that can last for years. And through beekeeping, our members contribute to their communities, American agriculture, pollinator health, and a tradition that has been part of this country for generations.
But empowerment also means something else.
It means standing beside people when the issues affecting them extend beyond the apiary.
From Two Hives to West Virginia’s Highest Court
Alex Urban's case began with a request to responsibly maintain two honey bee colonies at his South Charleston home. What began as a local issue has progressed through West Virginia's court system and raised broader questions involving municipal authority, agriculture, property, and responsible beekeeping.
Those legal questions belong to the Court.
Hives for Heroes respects that process and the institutions responsible for considering them.
Our role is to bring another perspective to the conversation.
Through an amicus curiae, or “friend of the court” brief, organizations can provide courts with experience and information relevant to issues that may extend beyond the individual parties involved.
That is why Hives for Heroes chose to participate.
We believe the lived experience of Veterans and First Responders who have found community, purpose, education, mentorship, and service through beekeeping deserves to be part of the broader conversation surrounding responsible beekeeping.
We are grateful for the opportunity for that perspective to be heard.
Walking Shoulder to Shoulder
Just as importantly, we are not standing alone.
We are proud to stand alongside Alex Urban, the West Virginia Beekeepers Association, the West Virginia Farm Bureau, West Virginia's agricultural community, beekeepers, advocates, and others who have brought their knowledge and experience to this effort.
That cooperation matters.
The West Virginia Farm Bureau represents a strong agricultural voice within the state, while the West Virginia Beekeepers Association brings generations of practical knowledge from the people actually managing honey bees and supporting pollination across West Virginia.
Hives for Heroes brings another perspective: thousands of Veterans, First Responders, mentors, and community members who understand that beekeeping can be much more than an agricultural activity.
Together, those perspectives demonstrate what can happen when people with different experiences unite around a shared purpose.
No single beekeeper, Veteran, nonprofit, agricultural organization, government agency, or community has every answer.
Progress happens when people are willing to come together respectfully, bring their expertise to the table, listen to one another, and work through difficult questions.
That is the same principle our members practice every day.
At the hive, experience is shared from one beekeeper to another.
Across Hives for Heroes, people connect through the BeeXchange. A State Leader connects someone to a resource. A Veteran helps another Veteran. A First Responder discovers another way to serve. A civilian beekeeper opens an apiary to someone searching for their next mission.
One relationship becomes a community.
A community becomes a network.
And sometimes that network becomes a voice.
Service Does Not End With the Uniform
Many of the men and women within Hives for Heroes once raised their right hand and promised to serve something larger than themselves.
Taking off the uniform does not erase that instinct.
It changes the mission.
Today, that service may look like mentoring another Veteran. It may mean teaching a child about pollinators, helping a neighbor capture a swarm, producing American honey, volunteering at a community event, or caring for a colony in a backyard.
And sometimes it means participating thoughtfully in the civic and legal processes that shape the communities in which we live.
That is not about division.
It is about participation.
The same men and women who once served this country around the world now live, work, raise families, grow food, keep bees, start businesses, volunteer, and serve their neighbors here at home.
They defended communities while wearing the uniform.
Today, they continue serving those communities on American soil.
Their voices matter.
A Bigger Hive Means a Bigger Responsibility
As Hives for Heroes has grown across the United States, so has our responsibility.
Our work will always begin at the community level.
That is where the real work happens knee to knee, shoulder to shoulder, one relationship at a time.
But a national community also has the ability to recognize when an issue in one town may carry lessons or implications far beyond that town.
The situation in West Virginia is an example of why connection matters.
A beekeeper in one community should know that he or she is part of something larger.
A Veteran learning beekeeping in another state should know there are people willing to share their knowledge, stand beside them, and help them navigate challenges.
And our members should know that when significant issues involving the work we do arise, Hives for Heroes can bring the experience of our community to the conversation in a professional, respectful, and constructive way.
That is influence rooted not in anger or division, but in service, experience, relationships, agriculture, and community.
And when organizations like the West Virginia Beekeepers Association, West Virginia Farm Bureau, and Hives for Heroes work cooperatively, it demonstrates something even larger:
Our individual voices become stronger when we use them together.
This Is What Advocacy Can Look Like
Advocacy does not have to mean shouting.
It does not require attacking someone who disagrees.
And it does not require turning every disagreement into a political battle.
Sometimes advocacy is simply being willing to show up.
Bring facts.
Bring experience.
Bring the people affected by an issue into the conversation.
Treat others with respect.
And make sure decisions are informed by the communities they affect.
That is how Hives for Heroes intends to participate wherever our voice may be useful.
Legally. Morally. Ethically. Professionally.
We can strongly advocate for the people and communities we serve while still respecting courts, municipalities, elected leaders, agricultural agencies, and those who may hold a different perspective.
Those ideas are not mutually exclusive.
In fact, that is how durable solutions are often created.
Thank You, West Virginia
We extend our sincere appreciation to the Supreme Court of Appeals of West Virginia for considering the perspectives brought before it through this process.
We are grateful to Alex Urban for his perseverance and willingness to stand behind responsible beekeeping.
We thank the West Virginia Beekeepers Association for continuing to represent and educate the state's beekeeping community.
We recognize the West Virginia Farm Bureau for its cooperation and for bringing the broader voice of West Virginia agriculture into important conversations affecting the people who work the land.
And we appreciate the attorneys, agricultural professionals, advocates, mentors, beekeepers, Veterans, First Responders, and citizens who have contributed their time and expertise.
This is what working together looks like.
And to Our Heroes Across America
What is happening in West Virginia should also remind every Hives for Heroes member of something important:
Pay attention to what is happening in your own community.
Learn your local and state beekeeping laws.
Know your state beekeeping association.
Know your Farm Bureau and agricultural organizations.
Get to know your Extension professionals and agricultural officials.
Build relationships before there is a problem.
Ask questions.
Educate respectfully.
Share what responsible beekeeping looks like.
And if an issue affects your ability to responsibly keep bees or serve your community, let your leadership know.
One person asking a question can start a conversation.
A conversation can create a relationship.
Relationships can create cooperation.
And cooperation can create meaningful change.
That is the power of a national community built from thousands of individual relationships.
For Hives for Heroes, our mission remains the same:
Connect people.
Help them find purpose.
Build relationships.
Serve others.
Most days, that happens beside a beehive.
Sometimes it happens in a community meeting.
Sometimes it happens alongside agricultural organizations and fellow beekeepers.
And every once in a while, the conversation reaches the highest court in a state.
Wherever the mission takes us, we will continue to show up with professionalism, respect, courage, and a willingness to stand shoulder to shoulder with the people we serve.
People first. Bees always.
About Hives for Heroes: Hives for Heroes is a national nonprofit connecting Service Members, Veterans, and First Responders with experienced beekeepers through mentorship, education, community, and service.
Get Involved: Join the community, support the mission, or learn more at HivesForHeroes.org.