Your gift counts double until 5/31: $24,002 to go in our Easter Campaign. Please help now!

Beehives donated for papal summer residence

CWN - September 20, 2011

An Italian agricultural group has donated several beehives to the small working farm on the grounds of the papal residence at Castel Gandolfo.

The bees were presented to the papal household as part of the Day for the Protection of Creation. The Italian organization, Coldiretti, called attention to the pivotal role that bees play in the pollination of agricultural crops. The 8 colonies are expected to yield over 500 pounds of honey annually.

The papal residence at Castel Gandolfo is home to a model farm, which includes 24 dairy cows, 300 hens, apricot and peach orchards, a greenhouse, and an olive grove that produces about 800 gallons of olive oil each year.

Additional sources for this story
Some links will take you to other sites, in a new window.

An appeal from our founder, Dr. Jeffrey Mirus:

Dear reader: If you found the information on this page helpful in your pursuit of a better Catholic life, please support our work with a donation. Your donation will help us reach five million Truth-seeking readers worldwide this year. Thank you!

Easter Campaign:
Progress toward our Spring 2013 goal ($24,002 to go):
$80,000.00 $55,997.55
30% 70%
Sound Off! CatholicCulture.org supporters weigh in.

All comments are moderated. To lighten our editing burden, only current donors are allowed to Sound Off. If you are a donor, log in to see the comment form; otherwise please support our work, and Sound Off!

Show 1 Comments? (Hidden)Hide Comments
  • Posted by: skladach - Sep. 20, 2011 5:51 PM ET USA

    Oh great! In his book-length interview, "My Brother the Pope" (soon to be published in English) Georg Ratzinger tells of seven-year-old Joseph being stung by a bee and having a bad allergic reaction to it. Let us pray that the Holy Father has meanwhile outgrown the allergy.

Catholic World News Email Newsletter
Donate to Support this Site: Your contribution will be put to good work.
Tour the CatholicCulture.org Site
Shop Amazon to Raise Money for Catholic Culture

Recent Catholic Commentary

The Rise and Fall of the (American?) Church 17 hours ago
The Ideal of Pope Francis: the Servant Church May 23
The sad decline of self-government May 22
That impromptu exorcism again May 22
The Mystery of the Spirit May 21

Top Catholic News

Most Important Stories of the Last 30 Days
Pope strongly supports call for reform in religious life CWN - May 8