Category: Sustainability

The signs around upper northwest DC seem more suited for a garage sale than for an event at an embassy. “Honey Sale” is written in shaky handwriting on corrugated board, held in the ground by two metal stakes. In smaller letters in the bottom right-hand corner, reads "@ Swiss Embassy." It's the kind of sign you could easily walk past, if you didn't know what it meant. It's a misnomer of course. The honey sale at the Swiss Embassy isn't exactly a honey sale at the Swiss Embassy; the Swiss government is prohibited from hosting the sale on the grounds itself. Instead, the embassy hosts the bees that are managed by local beekeepers, who, legend has it, called over the embassy's fence one day that the Ambassador needed hives. Swiss Ambassador Jacques Pitteloud agreed, and the property is now home to the largest apiary in Washington, D.C. Because the hives have been rescued from around the city, and would have been destroyed without the sanctuary of the Swiss grounds, Pitteloud has proclaim the land a "Swiss refuge for bees."

A neighborhood sign alerts locals to the annual honey sale. Photo by Diplomatica Global Media.

I've written about the Swiss embassy before; under Ambassador Martin Dahinden, the Swiss were one of the first countries to welcome then-fledging newsletter Diplomatica for a tour. (See that original feature from 2018, The Capitol Alternative). For Audubon, I wrote about Ambassador Pitteloud's rewilding of the property in Why Switzerland Is Growing A Native Plant Oasis in the Heart of Washington, and in a feature here I wrote about how embassies are adopting different models of beekeeping (and why every embassy with land should, at minimum, plant pollinator gardens). Arguably the country's tiniest ambassadors in DC, the bees, and the jars of honey they produce, draw in local crowds every year. For the several hours of the sale, and often long after the honey has sold out, Pitteloud opens the grounds to the embassy's neighbors in Woodley Park. In a city known for the tight and at times contentious cohabitation of foreign governments and local residents, this sort of hospitality generates goodwill among neighbors who don’t attend the embassy’s lavish events like the Soiree Suisse, but nonetheless have to deal with the noise and the traffic that such fêtes inflict onto the neighborhood. At the honey sale, there are no gowns or military dress, no shiny lapel pins or winding lines for fondue. Here, simply, is an invitation, neighbor to neighbor, to come on over and explore. Or, as Pitteloud likes to joke, to "Bee our guest."

Neighbors Grace, Richard and Eliana Moseley speak with Ambassador Jacques Pitteloud about the changes to the property. Photo by Diplomatica Global Media.

Pitteloud, who had previously shared that he knew many of the most significant benefits to the area as a result of his labors would occur long as his ambassadorship had ended, told me that the changes to the property have been encoded in the Swiss "sustainable embassies" program, part of Switzerland's contribution to the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development. This ensures that the next ambassador won't be able to return the property back to its less natural state. That's good news for the five species of woodpeckers that now pass through the neighborhood, drawn to the newly created habitat on the Swiss grounds. They find company among bald eagles, barn owls, and the Cooper's hawk, a bird whose breeding has been on the slow decline due to pesticides and other pollutants commonly used in traditional American landscaping but which have been eliminated from the Swiss property. American Goldfinch are also a common sight, attracted to the island of sunflowers planted especially for them. The same changes that attract the wildlife, attract the neighbors, who come in droves. They come alone, with friends or with families in tow. They bring pets and small children, strollers and bicycles. As the Ambassador and I talk, one man joins us, and shares that he lives in a co-op nearby, and always enjoys walking near the Swiss estate, as even outside the gate, the area has become a lush, natural park-like area that many of the neighbors enjoy. Pitteloud asks where, exactly the man lives, then proclaims, "That's my favorite place to see the Blackpoll warbler!" "Come by anytime!" the man tells him, and it's easy enough to imagine the two might actually enjoy birding together in the back of the co-op's parking lot on one sunny afternoon.

A portion of the hillside beneath the residence has been transformed with native plants. Photo by Diplomatica Global Media.

A representative from the neighborhood association stops by to ask if Pitteloud would mind if the organization rewilded the patch outside the embassy's gate; embassy spokesperson Marcellus Rolle explains that unlike traditional residences in Washington, which maintain responsibility for their curb strips, diplomatic properties are not able to make significant changes to theirs. The representative left with the assurance of the ambassador that he would support their efforts, even if he could not participate directly in them. In between these visits, I asked Pitteloud what he would recommend other embassies should do to their grounds, especially those who don't have as vast a property as the Swiss. His advice was equally fitting his peers and his less-diplomatic neighbors. "First, stop using pesticides," he said. "People think it helps but it just makes things worse. We need the insects that these chemicals kill. Second, leave the leaves six to seven weeks after they fall. Then, when you do remove them, gather them up and shred them on site to use as nutrients for your lawn. Gather your branches and leave them in a pile as a home for the carpenter bees. This saves money and time, and keeps things healthier." "A perfectly manicured lawn is not necessary. A beautiful lawn is one high with flowers," he continued. "Work with your local representatives to remove regulations saying your lawn must be cut a certain height. It's ridiculous." He warned people against planting exotic trees - something that happens in Washington often during commemorative plantings on embassy grounds. "Your local trees are so beautiful," he tells me. "The birds and the insects recognize them." Woodley Park is home to several sweeping properties like the Swiss embassy, including Twin Oaks, the Washington International School, the Tregaron Conservancy, and others, adjoined by the Klingle Valley Trail, leading into the Smithsonian Zoo and Rock Creek Park. When neighbors mentioned their own desire to create environmental havens, had they the land to do so, Pitteloud reminded them that even small actions could have an impact. "A small plot equals a small island of biodiversity," he said. "And together, we can create pocket islands, to create a wildlife migratory chain throughout the city."

When Colonel Mojca Pešec assumed her post as defense attaché with the Embassy of Slovenia in Washington, she and her husband did something that Slovenians have done for generations - they built a beehive at their home. Using scrap wood found around their neighborhood, and with a little help from a neighbor, they built a home for Apis Carniola, also known as Slovenian bees.

"We produced 14 kg of honey this year! It was a good 14 kg of wonderful honey," Pešec says. "In a good Slovenian tradition, we only take less than 30 percent of honey. The rest of the honey we leave with the bees."

Colonel Mojca Pešec and her husband built a hive from local scraps in keeping with the Slovenian beekeeping tradition. Photo courtesy of Colonel Mojca Pešec.

It may be a Slovenian tradition, but worldwide, the need for honeybees, and pollinators in general, is more important than ever. More than half the domestic honeybee colonies in the United States have been lost between 1947 and 2005. According to the European Red List, around one in three bee and butterfly species has a declining population, while around one in ten are threatened with extinction. A new World Bank report claims that, by conservative estimate, a collapse in select services such as wild pollination, provision of food from marine fisheries and timber from native forests, could result in a significant decline in global GDP: $2.7 trillion in 2030.

Weeks after G7 talks resulted in climate promises that lacked specific details, and months ahead of the COP26 summit in Glasgow, as unprecedented natural emergencies abound, a new masterplan aims to position Europe as a leader in climate policy action. But as world leaders jockey for position on climate change on the global stage, some embassies in Washington are taking a more local approach.

In a city that was once farmland, a large percentage of which is now owned by foreign governments, some embassies are graced with enormous tracts of land. Great portions of those tracts are abutting natural and protected areas; including Rock Creek Park, the country's third oldest national park, offering opportunities to contribute to the city's ecosystem not found in other capital cities. While security fences may keep out hikers and prevent natural wildlife corridors from forming, some embassies are finding ways to connect to their surrounding environment, whether they have large tracts of land, or not.

One of those ways is by maintaining beehives on embassy and residence grounds as part of a comprehensive ecosystem management plan. Three embassies are doing just that, and with each using a different model for maintaining their hives and managing the sale of honey, other embassies can readily adopt a model that suits them, as well, or even, create their own.

At the Canadian Embassy, beehives complement pollinator and vegetable gardens as part of an overall sustainability program. Photo by Molly McCluskey for Diplomatica Global Media.

The Canadian Model

On a hot summer's day, several staff of the Canadian Embassy on Pennsylvania Avenue gather on its rooftop, so famed it has its own hashtag, #Viewfrom501. They're there with beekeepers from Alvéole, a Montreal-based beekeeping start-up that is currently maintaining two hives on the Canadian property. Usually the spot of social gatherings, a portion of the roof has been used as critical outdoor gathering space during the pandemic, and now hosts a vegetable garden, Monarch butterfly gardens, and of course, the hives.

"We put these hives in last June, and we're thinking of adding solar panels," Colin Shonk, a spokesperson for the embassy, explained during a recent visit. "We're hoping to find the balance between using the area for environmental initiatives like these, and the need for event space. We haven't had that challenge yet because of the lockdowns, but it'll be interesting to see how guests react to the hives once we start gatherings again."

In addition to supporting local pollinators, the hives serve another purpose. In 2020, the bees collected 200 jars of honey from flowers around the National Mall. The honey was then sold to staff, and the proceeds benefited the Canadian government's charitable giving campaign.

Hives at the British Ambassador’s residence as part of a traditional British garden. Photo by Molly McCluskey for Diplomatica Global Media.

The British Model

Bees have always been part of the garden at the British Ambassador's Residence in what was once Normanstone farm. John Sonnier, the head gardener, explains that's because bees are a standard part of garden maintenance in the UK, and the ambassador's garden is the best example of a British garden in the United States.

"Other embassies have representational gardens, that showcase certain plants or trees," Sonnier explained on a recent tour. "We're not trying to be an arboretum, but this is, in every way, an English garden. We have pollinator gardens, we limit use of pesticides, we have imperfect lawns with clover here and there, which is good for the bees, we have a cistern that collects rainwater."

"We are gardening in the whole way," Sonnier said.

The two British hives, which have Italian and Russian bees, produced approximately 80 pounds of honey last year, which is used in the residence and occasionally given as gifts, but not available for sale. Staff maintains the bees, with outside help from DC Beekeepers Alliance and other experts when needed.

Swiss Ambassador Jacques Pitteloud allows local beekeepers to keep hives on the embassy grounds as part of a broader rewilding initiative. Photo by Molly McCluskey for Diplomatica Global Media.

The Swiss Model

When local beekeepers Sean Kennedy and Erin Gleeson of Bee Curious called Ambassador Jacques Pitteloud about potentially hosting some hives on the Swiss embassy grounds, he responded enthusiastically.

"They emailed on a Thursday," Pitteloud recalled at a recent meeting at the Swiss Ambassador's Residence, "We had a call that Friday, picked out a plot that same day, and they brought the bees over on Sunday."

The property now hosts 30 hives, with approximately 50,000 bees per hive. The hives are owned by Bee Curious and maintained by Kennedy and Gleeson, who will be hosting a honey sale during harvest time in hopes of recouping the more than $10,000 in equipment it took to build and maintain what Kennedy says is the largest single apiary in Washington. A portion of the honey will be donated back to the embassy for their own use.

The Irish Ambassador’s residence keeps a traditional “wild garden” which requires little maintenance and watering. Photo by Molly McCluskey for Diplomatica Global Media.

The Irish Model

Although lacking in official beehives (for now), the grounds of the residence of the Irish Ambassador has broken from the tradition of the carefully manicured lawns of its peers and instead gone as untamed as the Irish coastline.

"We have a wild garden," Ambassador Dan Mulhall told me at a dinner recently. "It's rugged with rocks and stone seating and filled with trees dedicated to famous Irish. There's a birdbath where the birds like to bathe and we hardly ever mow the lawn." On a hot summer day, sitting in that garden, with the birds chirping, the tree cover seemed to bring the temperature down a few degrees. Nearby, several bees hovered around a patch of clover.

The Embassy of Tunisia keeps pollinator gardens at its location on Massachusetts Ave, one of the few embassies on Embassy Row to do so. Photo by Molly McCluskey.

The Tunisian Model

While not hosting hives of their own, both the Embassy of Tunisia in downtown Washington and its residence up near Rock Creek park host pollinator gardens, and herb gardens. The embassy, located on an island in the city, is one of the few along that strip of Massachusetts Avenue to have such resting spots for pollinators. As I wandered among the plants, a bee - who's to say from where? - came to rest on one before

Additional Models

While each diplomatic property often strives to reflect the ethos of its host country, its embassy does not operate within its own ecosystem. Bees are one of the clearest signs of environmental codependence, and their decline a harbinger of broader failures. It will take more than grand summitry to solve the crisis of pollinator decline. With a variety of options, nearly any embassy can incorporate pollinator-friendly solutions, whether they have large plots of land, or hardly any at all, or window ledges available for gardens, or defense ministers with a few pieces of scrap wood and kind neighbors.

Does your diplomatic property have vegetable gardens, xeriscaping, beehives, solar panels, wildlife corridors, or other environmentally-friendly features? Please get in touch for an upcoming story or nominate a property for inclusion in Diplomatica.

Switzerland’s Tiny Ambassadors

The Swiss embassy’s annual honey sale offers a chance to showcase the embassy’s environmental initiatives, and mingle with neighbors.