CENTENNIAL, Colo. — Centennial Airport is the second-biggest general aviation airport in the country, with 343,000 operations in 2018.
Last year, the airport started transitioning to LED lights in an effort to be more sustainable and environmentally friendly. One month ago, they took another step in that direction by hosting two beehives on the land that cannot otherwise be used.
"This is our experimental year. We have two hives. Hoping that we are successful this year so that next year and the years coming, we can add additional hives," Senior Planner Gina Conley said.
Those hives contain 60,000 bees.
"As soon as we started talking to Gina it was like a match made in heaven," beekeeper Joe Komperda said. "They wanted bees. They were all for it, supportive of it and it’s a great place for us to put some of our bees."
Komperda manages the hives on the site. He says having them there is going to be a great benefit for the community and the environment.
"You have that constant business that lets you know it’s vibrant and alive and the airport is another indication of vibrancy and alive we all are today. Little by little, if we chip away over time, it’s going to pay dividends down the road," he said.
Centennial is not the first airport to host bees. It's just a small step it is taking toward sustainability and helping the environment.