Beehives & Native plantings

SRES worked to obtain funding to place a beehive on campus and for the past two years to obtain the final permissions and forms necessary. With the generous assistance of the Honeybee Conservancy, this is hopefully going to finally come to pass this year. The Honeybee Conservancy donated a hive, supplies, bees, and their own guidance to help with this project and the club members have been learning a great deal about pollinators, urban challenges for honeybees and other pollinators, and learning about the challenges beekeepers face, as well!

Bees and other pollinators play an essential role in ecosystems. Honey bees account for pollinating over a third of the world's food supply. Plants need pollination in order to reproduce and many other species also depend on pollination to find their own food. Unfortunately, honey bee populations have been in decline due to the use of pesticides, the spread of pathogens and the destruction of natural habitats. Without bees, our produce sections at super markets and the planets floral landscapes would look bare.

Instead of typical stacking beehives that are made for maximized honey production, a beepod is a specially designed urban beekeeping system. Beneficial to both the bees and the keepers, the beepod provides a top bar hive that easily slides out so that it does not destroy the bees home. Thus, there are less bees in the air and the bees are more calm. In addition, it provides a safer and engaging environment for the beekeeper.

The beepod and botanical garden will be located in the forest area behind the East parking lot of the JCSM. SRES plans to practice beekeeping for the benefit of the bees and are always accepting stewards of nature to help. For this reason, we plan to offer a beekeeping class through CCE. SRES hopes to create a safe environment for the bees and help increase bee populations. Furthermore, we hope to spread awareness about the decline of bee populations to the student body and surrounding community.