Vince Ylitalo concentrates on a bee. It has blobs of orange pollen on its hind legs. Other bees swarm around the hive. They don’t bother him. He is “just thinking about bees.”

This veteran is in a program at the VA Medical Center in Manchester, New Hampshire. It helps soldiers who have served in places of war. Many of these soldiers feel anxious and sad. They have a hard time working. 

Doctors at this hospital study veterans. Will an activity like beekeeping help them? Veteran groups want to train soldiers in careers related to farming.

Army veteran Wendi Zimmerman works with Mr. Ylitalo and ten other veterans in this program.  She says she feels anxious when she is not at home. But she does not “think about the outside world” when she works with bees.

“The experiences we have heard are fantastic,” says Alicia Semiatin. She heads the Manchester program. “The benefits [of beekeeping] seem to be carrying over . . . weeks afterward.”

Adam Ingrao runs Heroes to Hives through Michigan State University. It offers a nine-month beekeeping course to veterans. Mr. Ingrao says that with beekeeping “you’re thinking about what’s happening right here, right now.”

Reno, Nevada, beekeepers Ginger and Daniel Fenwick began Bees4Vets in 2018. A 1919 U.S. government pamphlet gave her the idea. It suggested beekeeping for World War I veterans. Each vet in Bees4Vets gets two hives to manage. The soldiers also learn skills like honey harvesting and wax processing.

All of these program managers agree. Beekeeping gives anxious and brain-injured veterans purpose and a way to relax. The vets would probably also agree with Proverbs 24:13 — “My son, eat honey, for it is good, and the drippings of the honeycomb are sweet to your taste.”