Caring for Carolina’s bees
Through the Carolina Beekeeping Club, Tar Heels are learning to care for hives and exploring the impact bees have on our environment and food systems.
High above campus, on the roof of the FedEx Global Building, a group of students are caring for one of Carolina’s most valuable resources: bees.
Through the Carolina Beekeeping Club, Tar Heels are learning to care for hives and exploring the impact bees have on our environment and food systems.
“Having a hive on campus like UNC is really important because it gives us a little of a boost,” says Adrienne Lambert, a Carolina sophomore and the vice president of the club. “They’re helping our immediate environment here. Without bees, we wouldn’t be able to have the fruits, the vegetables, the flowers that we see on a daily basis.”
Each spring and summer, the Carolina community sees firsthand how the bees have been working to make Chapel Hill beautiful and vibrant. The bees from the Carolina Beekeeping Club hive can pollinate plants as far as the Coker Arboretum — providing for the flowers and plants across our campus.
“It’s a vital resource for all of the local community,” says Michael Bowen, a senior in the club.
Lambert and Bowen say the club aims to bring greater awareness to the impact bees and other pollinators have on the environment.
“As long as we can satiate every student’s appetite for being aware about the environment and learning how to help local bee populations, that’s my biggest hope for this club,” Bowen says.