The University is home to over 600 registered clubs ranging from career focus to hobby enjoyment, yet the Bama Bee Club stands out as the single organization on campus involving beekeeping.
Formed in 2022, the Bama Bee Club is a student-led organization aiming to educate people about the importance of pollinators in the environment and the world of beekeeping.
“The primary goal of the club is to educate students on how bees are important to our ecosystem and to share how beekeeping is actually done,” said Megan Elizabeth Lewis, a freshman majoring in finance and international studies and a member of the club.
The club works to accomplish this mission through a variety of activities, such as creating thematic crafts at Gordon Palmer during the week and maintaining beehives and harvesting honey.
The Bama Bee Club currently maintains three separate hives in their own distinct Langstroth Hives, vertical boxes with frames for bees to store honey and larvae, with the help of the University of Alabama Arboretum. The members will suit up in the protective suits commonly associated with beekeeping and inspect the health and conditions of the hive, carefully preserving the structures the bees create and harvesting the excess honey the bees don’t need.
The safety and health of the bees is of utmost concern to the club, Lewis said, and they make sure to reflect this value in their interactions with the hives and with their efforts to raise awareness for the importance of bees for the environment.
“We’re not necessarily an environmental club,” Lewis said. “But we try to teach people who are interested about how important bees are, and we’ll plant flower seeds along parts of the highway to make it look nicer and provide more flowers for the local pollinators.”
The club sources much of its equipment from donations, whether it be from connected farmers and beekeepers in the area or funded through honey sales.
The months of work and attentive care pay off when the club harvests their honey for sale. Beginning in July or August, the club harvests honey from its hives and begins preparations to sell the honey to the people of Tuscaloosa via online orders through its Instagram account, Bama Bee Club, and from tabling on campus. By selling their honey the club gives students the chance to taste their local honey and support their future endeavors.
The club is always welcoming to new members, gladly teaching them about the hives and hosting numerous events and get-togethers, though some students may be intimidated by the nicheness of the club or the possibility of being stung.
“Beekeeping might sound a little anxiety-inducing, but beekeeping is so fun and good for the environment,” Lewis said. “It’s something calm to do, and it has positive effects on the world around you, so why not give it a try at least?”
