Hercules Beekeeper Surpasses Kickstarter Goal

Things are now buzzing for Hercules beekeeper Scott Jorgensen and it's not just the insects he takes care of.

Jorgensen's Kickstarter campaign to raise $5,000 to build bee hives at the Hercules Community Garden has flown past its goal.

"The day it went over five grand I felt this sense of relief and excitement," said the 2006 Hercules High School graduate.

Jorgensen now plans to finish the paperwork he needs to complete with the city as well as an insurance company. He still needs approval from city officials to install the bee colonies in the garden.

If he gets approval, Jorgensen can start buying materials and start building the 10 hives he plans for the Hercules garden. He hopes to have those hives completed by December to catch the blooming season for eucalyptus trees and manzanita plants.

Jorgensen has 11 hives now in Hercules and Walnut Creek and hopes to eventually have 50 hives in various locations.

His campaign was publicized in an August 9 Patch story. At that time, he had $2,750 in pledges.

During the next two weeks, a flood of pledges came in. As of midday Monday, there were $5,269 in pledges.

Jorgensen said the Patch article brought in $285 in direct pledges as well as a number of "story shares" and Facebook posts.

"The publicity definitely helped a lot," he said.

In addition, Time magazine did a cover story on the decrease in the world's honey bees and the implications that shortage has. That article may have generated some general searches on the topic.

Jorgensen also said the folks at the Hercules Community Garden did a great job of getting the word out on his proposal.

The Kickstarter campaign still has almost a week to go, so more money may still come in.