On Friday the 28th, the Bee Friendly Committee hosted a honey-harvesting event on campus. A group of dedicated UO students made their way through the catacomb-esque hallways and back staircases to the roof of the EMU to access just a few of the several honeybee hives on campus. The honey harvest was the first of the year, and likely the only harvest from these hives, considering a honey extraction of this caliber only occurs once or twice a year.
The harvesting began with Resident Beekeeper David Flock assisting the small group of students with protective equipment and a demonstration of the tools. After he debriefed the group on the events that would be following, he went through the process of removing the honey frames from the hives, letting students who felt brave enough have a turn.
“We don’t have in our normal, daily lives an ability to see how bees work or where honey comes from,” Taylor McHolm, the Director of the Student Sustainability Center said, emphasizing the importance of programs like this one.
The Bee Friendly Committee was established in the 2018-19 school year as a student-led club that worked in tandem with the Student Sustainability Center. The two groups have since collaborated over a fondness for pollinator work.
“It was started by a group of students who were interested in educating, learning and implementing bee education and awareness for other students,” Annabelle Hurley, Bee Friendly Committee President, said.
Honey harvesting isn’t the only event the Bee Friendly Committee will be orchestrating this year. The committee has put on several events in recent years, with many more to come. The work ranges from honey-harvesting events to planting pollinator gardens to re-establishing colonies in all the hives across campus. Events provide students with a tangible opportunity to get involved with local ecology sustainability.
“Getting people involved on campus, and forming a sense of community is always fun,” Hurley said.
The largest goals of the committee are focused on the maintenance of the hives on campus, maintaining the university’s title of a bee campus, as well as education about pollinator sustainability for students. “I’ve learned a lot more about bees in the last couple of years than I ever knew before and I know how important they are for food production reasons and the health of ecosystems,” Hurley said. Larger than just honey bee pollination, the Committee works to educate students about the importance of native pollinators and different species of bees.
The Bee Friendly Committee works with the Pollinator Team of the Student Sustainability Center on campus to bring forth the implementation of sustainable ecosystems on campus. The groups share a passion for educating about the role of bees in the health of the environment. Without our native pollinators, access to produce would be limited. They’re integral to a large part of the food we eat. The Bee Friendly Committee and the SSC are equally dedicated to making sure students understand the importance of the contributions of pollinators.
“The most important part is this educational component where our students can understand, ‘Oh, when I squirt honey on a piece of toast, or in my tea or whatever, this is the work that went into it,’ or ‘this is the importance of it,’” McHolm said.
The honey extracted from last week’s event will be distributed to members of the Bee Friendly Committee as well as the Student Sustainability Center as a form of thanks for their contribution to these organizations. What goes unclaimed will be sold by Resident Beekeeper David Flock for $20 a quart.
