To the Editor:

Thank you for your significant support of Guilderland’s proposed Comprehensive Plan Update agricultural recommendations and of those related policies in some of our surrounding towns [“Editorial: We can save ourselves by saving our farms,” Nov. 14, 2024].

I am a member of the Update Committee and a long-time member of the Hudson-Mohawk Resource Conservation and Development Council Inc.

Most recently, I’ve advocated for including apiaries within the fenced areas of ground-mounted solar photovoltaic facilities attendant to their planting nectar-bearing forage within, and a  collateral benefit is that this would also provide security for hives from theft and from bears.

As a long-time beekeeper, may I add that conserving the ag resources which you have identified also supports our local pollinators, especially our managed bees (Apis mellifera). Great editorial.

Stephen Wilson

Altamont

Editor’s note: Stephen Wilson notes that he was named Beekeeper of the Year in 2017 by the Empire State Honey Producers Association; he is a 2024 Friend of the Industry; and he is a board member of the Pollinator Stewardship Council.