Heading west on Interstate 264—otherwise known as the Watterson Expressway, around the southern side of Louisville—drivers pass the Breckinridge Lane interchange and then spot a tranquil lagoon surrounding the Texas Roadhouse corporate headquarters on the right.
“That’s pretty,” they may think.
But what likely also catches the eye is a set of beehives just yards away from the thousands of noisy cars that zip by every day spewing exhaust.
It’s kind of an odd sight for passersby but not for the folks at Texas Roadhouse.
“Every time somebody asks us about the hives, it gives us an opportunity to tell them about the critical nature of the bees dying but also the importance of them,” said Travis Doster, Texas Roadhouse’s senior director of communications and public affairs. “Bees pollinate about 75 percent of everything we eat. We realize this goes well beyond just honey. They’re important for everything we eat.”
Doster said Texas Roadhouse’s concern for the honeybee population emerged about four years ago when the company learned more about the growing shortage of USA-made honey—a key ingredient in the restaurant chain’s well-known honey cinnamon butter.
That’s when the company forged a partnership with the Oldham County Beekeepers Association and brought in association member and beekeeper Rodolfo Bernal to help set up and manage the hives.
“To me, they are a very good corporate citizen,” Bernal said of Texas Roadhouse. “They not only talk the talk, but they are walking whatever they are talking. They are really committed to this program.”
Both Doster and Bernal admit that the location selection for the hives raised some eyebrows.
“There was some concern that it wouldn’t even work with the highway and the noise, but it’s worked successfully,” Doster said.
Bernal said beekeeping is like real estate—location, location, location.
“If bees do good in one site, you stay there, and the bees have done well there,” Bernal said. “The bees must have found places to get their pollen and the nectar because they are doing well.”
They’re doing so well that the honey is sold internally at the company’s support center, with proceeds going to Andy’s Outreach Fund, which helps employees in times of crisis.
“One thing we don’t consider ourselves is a big company. We’re not a chain. We’re a collection of independent restaurants,” Doster said. “For us, [advocating for bees] was an opportunity, because we are a good size to be a leader in that area and say, ‘Hey, here’s an issue that concerns everybody in the food business, and frankly, everybody that eats food.’ ”
One of the first things folks need to do, Doster says, is to look out into their yards, recalling a time when going outside barefoot meant the possibility of stepping on a bee.
“What we’ve done is that we all want our yards to look like golf courses, so essentially, we’ve taken out all [the bees’] natural foods, which are clover, dandelions and weeds,” Doster said. “Bees are sometimes considered the enemy. I thought if we could just tell their story, tying it to our honey cinnamon butter and Texas Roadhouse, then maybe we can play a small part.”
That small part has expanded to placing hives in other parts of Jefferson County, including Chef Space, an incubator facility aimed at helping entrepreneurs get a jump-start on opening their own restaurants. To help with its community garden, Texas Roadhouse paid for hives and beekeeping equipment, the only stipulation being that the beekeeper teach the skill to others. Bernal also is happily offering his expertise in the program.
“It’s amazing,” Bernal said. “The whole organization supports beekeeping.”
Texas Roadhouse, which also is involved in assisting another type of bee—as contributing sponsor of the Kentucky Derby Festival Spelling Bee on March 16— takes the message inside its restaurants to younger patrons by not only putting honeybee information on the kids’ menus but also hosting special programs geared toward educating the young.
“Kids enjoy it, and we think we have a lot of opportunity with children, whether that is seed plantings in the restaurant or seed giveaways. Just raising awareness among young kids is really important,” Doster said.
Employees also are gladly doing what they can to help the cause, he added, either by planting a bee garden with pollinating flowers or, like himself, just spreading the word to anyone who will listen.
“When I talk to people about bees, the first thing I tell them is plant some flowers or let some of the clover grow,” he said. “We can all do a little something. It’s a problem that we can all solve in some small way.”