Karen Pence, wife of Vice President Mike Pence, arrives with their family rabbit ‘Marlon Bundo’ during an event on May 9, 2017. (Photo by Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images)

Karen Pence, wife of Vice President Mike Pence, arrives with their family rabbit ‘Marlon Bundo’ during an event on May 9, 2017. (Photo by Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images)

The Second Family just got a lot more crowded—Karen Pence has brought a honeybee colony to the vice presidential residence.

Pence, the wife of the vice president, displayed her estimated 15,000-20,000 honeybees this week to draw attention to the decline of the species, which plays a key role in pollinating major food crops.

Experts attribute the loss of bees to a mixture of factors, including lethal parasites, pesticides, and lack of food.

She was joined by Agriculture Secretary Sonny Perdue, who proclaimed next week “National Pollinator Week.”

While a week dedicated to “celebrating the significance of pollinators with appropriate observances and activities” is nice, some of the Trump administration’s actions have been decidedly less friendly towards the bees. That includes rejecting the ban on a leading crop insecticide, over the objections of the Environmental Protection Agency’s experts, proposing steep cuts to environmental programs, and generally working to dismantle the EPA from within.

But never mind all that, and meet “Alexandra,” the name chosen for the Pence colony’s queen bee.

The beehive was installed by a Virginia-based company called Eco Honeybees, and could grow to 40,000-50,000 bees by the end of this season, according to the Associated Press. They will sup on the property’s gardens, which include flowers and vegetables.

This isn’t Karen Pence’s first foray into beekeeping. When her husband was the governor of Indiana, a state where the majority of land is dedicated to agriculture, she had a beehive at the family’s residence, per AP. Vice President Pence considers his wife his closest advisor and the “prayer warrior of the family,” according to a Rolling Stone article that also revealed he likes to call her “Mother” in front of dinner guests. However, she has a “hard and fast rule” against weighing in on policy.

When Michelle Obama lived at the White House, she installed the residence’s first-ever bee hive in 2009. The hive performed beyond expectations, and the honey was used in recipes and bottled as gifts.

But you don’t have to be in politics to create some buzz. Urban beekeeping in the District became easier following the passage of a local law in 2012. Last spring, the D.C. Department of Parks and Recreation launched a beekeeping program. The District’s Department of Energy and Environment also encourages residents to plant native pollinator-friendly gardens. (If you’re more interested in guzzling wine than beekeeping, there’s still a way to channel that passion towards bees’ wellbeing.)

One of the city’s leading beekeepers, D.C. Honeybees Founder Jeff Miller, told DCist that urban honeybees benefit from more diverse foraging material.” In the District specifically we have a very green canopy that includes a lot of trees, on the streets and in parks. Trees are great for bees,” he said. “We don’t have a lot of other competing pollinators, so it makes for a smorgasbord for the bees.”

The bees at the vice presidential residence join family cats Oreo and Pickle, and rabbit Marlin Bundo.

Filed Under: bee, bees, karen pence, pence, urban beekeeping, vice president, vp,