Nurturing Nature, Sharing the Wealth

Some have called Howard Westley the Compost King. Children call him Mr. Bee Man.

The 73-year-old conservationist thinks of himself as a concerned citizen with a mission: to protect the balance of nature by educating people about his two favorite subjects.

“Composting and bees are on parallel tracks,” Westley says. “Pesticides are killing off bees. Growers have become dependent on pesticides to control insect damage, but (they) haven’t taken care to stop the honey bees from suffering.”

Westley, who lives with his wife of 50 years in Brentwood, was born on a farm in North Dakota. He began a small compost bin in his back yard 35 years ago because he didn’t like seeing branches, seeds and twigs go to waste.

He began taking classes on composting, and soon all his neighbors were giving him their trimmings. His small back yard compost bin evolved into a large system, including a shredder. He became a consultant on a book about composting, served on the Culver City composting committee and was a consultant to the now-defunct compost program in Santa Monica.

“When I think of Howard, I think composting guru,” says John Root, waste reduction coordinator for the city of Santa Monica, who has enlisted Wesley’s help. “He is widely respected in the field of composting locally and even up north. He devotes so much of his time and money to this and virtually gives away his resources in terms of expertise. I’ve learned a lot from him.”

Westley sells his rich soil for 10 cents a pound, and he speaks regularly to growers associations and garden clubs, encouraging and teaching composting. “The waste management problem is something we have to take seriously,” he says.

On the bee end of his agenda, Westley, a retired pilot and apartment owner and manager, regularly brings bees in baby food jars to schools throughout Los Angeles.

“I want to show children that we don’t have to be paranoid of honey bees, which is what they’ve learned from their parents,” he says. “Understanding bees is a marvelous way of being related to nature.”

Westley says he kept hives in his back yard for years--until some neighbors objected. Now, when he needs honey or bees for his class trips, he visits a wild hive a block from his house and takes what he needs.

Westley says he is seldom stung. But as a great believer in apitherapy--the therapeutic use of bees--he uses bee stings on his shoulder to help relieve his arthritis.

The Los Angeles Fire Department has also used Westley’s services. Westley has educated firemen and paramedics about bee stings and protection.

“There must be a realization that one cannot treat so cavalierly small segments of nature,” Westley says. “When people see a bug, their first reaction is to kill it. It scares them and they don’t understand it. But that upsets the balance of nature even further.

“If we’re going to keep nature in order, we must protect it--all of it.”