Westminster Establishes Apiary and Beekeeping Society
It’s official! Westminster College has obtained its very own apiary.
As his senior honors thesis, Nathan Fox ’16 decided to bring beehives to campus and established the Westminster Beekeeping Society, with the assistance of Dr. Bob Hansen as faculty advisor.
Two beehives are currently set up on the Westminster-owned property behind Fulton Medical Center. The Westminster Beekeeping Society, charged with maintaining and expanding Westminster’s apiary through campus fundraising, partnerships with academic departments and educational outreach, will be continued within a coordinated project led by Jack DeArmey ’19 through the newly conceived EcoHouse-EcoHall partnership.
In the short term, the Westminster Beekeeping Society plans to expand the hives, generate interest through campus presentations and fundraisers and pair with various academic departments — from biology to literature — to create educational programs for Westminster College students. In the long term, the society hopes to obtain an observation hive to bring to schools in the Fulton community for pollinator presentations and eventually generate enough honey to package and sell in the campus bookstore.
The beekeeping program will serve as a valuable educational tool with unique leadership opportunities and an important addition to Westminster’s continuing drive toward sustainability.
