Brief History to our Mini Apiary

Hello all!

So I never really talked about the bees we now have on campus and decided to devote a half hour or so to write about them.

First of all, how it all started: I had heard that there was some interest in bees all throughout last summer. I had a list of crazy projects I wanted to make and bees (along with chickens...) were at the top!

To my surprise, in the Fall, alumna Tess Brown, a staff member from Advancement, was going to have a honey bee info session on November 21st, 2011. Psyched, I quickly signed up and gladly attended the meeting. In the info session, a few other students and I learned from Tess, an experienced beekeeper herself, some basic things about bees such as their biology, why they're important, and what to expect from their arrival. Furthermore, we also began attending meetings at our local beekeeper club to get in touch with other beekeepers and learn from them what we're getting into.

Eventually, the info sessions became meetings discussing how exactly we would fund the apiary.On April 18th, 2012 we hosted a bee awareness campaign in the Cafeteria. Through the help of Sodexo, we were able to make it known to campus that the bees were coming (we were very confident we would run into the money somehow!). This was an essential step for us because according to my book, "The Backyard Beekeeper" it's pretty important to warn your neighbors about the 40,000 or so insects you'll be housing in their vicinity. Furthermore, it gave us a chance to recruit fellow beekeepers and show off everything I had learned to my peers.

On April 19th, 2012, donations were made by several individuals during an environmental luncheon held in the Oak Room for faculty and staff. By the end of that event, we had raised about 90 dollars. Unfortunately, we were short about 400 dollars. By the end of the day, however, I received a surprise call from garden co-director (my boss) Jen Klug saying the Biology Department would pay for the remaining fees. Hurrahs were said all over! Furthermore, through a different grant I received from the school (specifically, from Dr. E. Gerald Corrigan), we were also able to pay for the bees and the queen bee itself. More hurrahs!

At some point, we received all of the materials. On May 10th, 2012 I painted our hive and on May 11th, we hived the bees at last. I will write a post soon on what that was like!

This has been without a doubt a marvelous experience to work with these bees. All of the work that went into bringing them onto campus not only makes our school look better and unique (who's ever heard of a small Jesuit school like ours own bees???) but it will further educate students on this important specimen. I'm sure most people have heard that bees are on the decline, but not many know why! The reasons, while a mystery even in the science community, is speculated to be caused by human interaction (i.e. pesticide use, monoculture, globalization, etc). This fact makes it a perfect addition to our garden because we already employ sustainable methods to approach agriculture. Teaching students about how we do things and why we do it will make all parties happy.

Plus free honey! (If they live past the first year....)

~ jesusnunezx