On Saturday, January 18, 2020, Wesley College hosted the Delaware Beekeeping Association’s beekeeping workshop for beginning and intermediate beekeepers for the fifth time. With over 150 eager enthusiasts of all ages in attendance, it’s safe to say this event was quite the buzz. Beekeeping is something that is not unfamiliar to Wesley College. Biology professor, Dr. Kathleen “Kathy” Curran, Wesley business adjunct, Joseph Nicolai, and Wesley biology alumnus, Ken Outten, took part in the workshop as instructors excited to share their knowledge. Last year, Wesley took steps to become a Bee Certified Campus. Both beginner and intermediate classes gained insights into bee biology, prevalent bee diseases, and bee equipment operation. Intermediate beekeepers also learned how to breed queen bees, a particularly valuable skill in the face of massive decreases in bee populations as well as techniques to market honey products. Funding was happily provided in part by Project WiCCED*, a collaboration among Delaware colleges that seeks to address water security challenges in Delaware and around the world. These threats negatively affect ecosystem function and critical economic drivers. Bees, too, need a clean source of drinking water to pollinate the food we eat every day.
Written By: Katelynn “Katie” Fry, Wesley Environmental Science STEM Ambassador Senior
*Funded in part by the Delaware EPSCoR (Established Program to Stimulate Competitive Research) program funded by the National Science Foundation and the State of Delaware under grant number OIA-1757353.