Welcome to The Botetourt Bee

Welcome to The Botetourt Bee a digital community newspaper.

In the 19^th and early 20^th centuries a number of newspapers, large and small, were named the Bee. Sacramento and Fresno in California have newspapers named “Bee.” At one time Danville, Virginia, had a newspaper called The Danville Bee. I spent 15 years in community news. Being laid-off and the closure of my last community newspaper left me longing for more. For 9 months I wrote freelance at another community newspaper as I groomed my new career in real estate. That real estate endeavor will still be my primary job. Yet, I think they are similar in the sense that both sell this beautiful Botetourt County!

So why did I choose to name the new digital newspaper The Botetourt Bee?

First, I like alliteration. No rocket science here. Two of my children have alliterative names, Brittany and Brian. That should say volumes but there is more.

Bees have more definitions than just a winged creature that visits flowers. Bees are busy and represent industry. Not in the corporate sense but in the sense of being busy. Folks, Botetourt is a busy county. However, we are also expanding on the corporate and business sense. New jobs from Ballast Point to Eldor and Altec to the new community center YMCA are examples. If you look around Daleville you see a new strip mall and office building under construction. Drive around the county and plenty of new homes are under construction. VDOT just announced plans for more road improvement. Busy Bees all summer, VDOT has had most of us waiting in a line on one of many rural roads due to paving and patching. Botetourt is busy—like a hive of bees.

Bees can represent a competition like a spelling or geography bee. People strive hard to learn more about the topic and gain knowledge. What a perfect comparison for reading a newspaper. The name bee can be assigned to a community event that draws people together like a quilting bee. Imagine the news that is carried to such events!

Speaking of bees that live communally in hives and as far as we can tell, and after asking Botetourt County Administrator Gary Larrowe, Botetourt County remains the only county to house a honey bee sanctuary (full of hives) on a public land. It is located at Greenfield. Botetourt also has a Botetourt Honey Bee Association and a Honey Bee Club for 4H members. The decline of bees as pollinators does not bode well for humanity. Botetourt has numerous agricultural interests including orchards and vegetable farms.  Bees must be preserved. Our agriculture depends on it.

In that same vein, newspapers are on the decline. It is a reach to find a newspaper across the United States that has increased circulation in the past 15 years. When reporters and newspapers are being called the enemy of the people, that does not bode well for the people of this country. Real factual news must be preserved for us to remain free. There is a reason “Freedom of the Press” is the first amendment. It was a most threatened activity as the 13 colonies fought to be free from England. Do not believe what you hear. Fake News is generally spread by those who do not want you to be informed. Inuendo is a dangerous game and much like the demise of the honey bee, it can cause changes to all of us that we do not want to see in our lifetime or that of our children.

So, read on. Honestly, The Botetourt Bee does not plan to carry much bad news out to the fields and mountains and neighbors of this county via the web. I much prefer to nurture what is good about our county and citizens that live here. Expect The Botetourt Bee to leave the bad news to other outlets. One way to make things better is always to put emphasis on what we have in common and not in what we do not.

We accept submissions of newsworthy items like church announcements, civic clubs, community events, school news, sports, photos, and local information. All are very much welcome. Submit@thebotetourtbee.com. We have advertising as well. For a list of pricing and how your business can grow with us, advertising@thebotetourtbee.com.

Cathy Benson can be reached at Cathy@TheBotetourtBee.com or by phone or text at 540-793-0896 for news ideas. Not everything will make it in, but we make every effort to include anything that contributes to the voice, the buzz and hum of the community.

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