W H A T I S H U B ?
The Harvard Undergraduate Beekeepers provide students with an opportunity to be active beekeepers as undergrads and to learn about the role and importance of bees in our local ecosystem. To our knowledge, we are the only directly honeybee-related, insect-related, or experiential-apiculture-education-related Harvard student organization.
OUR MISSION
We started with an idea in the Harvard Community Garden, but have since become an independent club. In the past, we have partnered with the Food Literacy Project to bring bees into the important farm to table picture, and the Health Advocacy Project with a small honey-tasting event.
Since 2006, honeybee colonies in the US have seen collapse rates of up to 90%. As key pollinators, honeybees are directly responsible for cultivation of over 30% of the most important food crops. HUB seeks to stimulate active discussion on campus about not only the plight of the honeybee, but also to educate about the incredible world of apiculture. We would seek to bring together groups with important stakes in the fate of beekeeping. From all parts of the Harvard community, from the RoboBees Laboratory designing robots that mimic hive behavior at the School of Engineering & Applied Sciences, to the Environmental Exposure biologists working to link between declining bee health and pesticides at the School of Public Health.
OUR GOALS
HUB will take a three-pronged approach to our purpose of initiating discussion and participation:
1. Cooperative Community Events: Bee’ducation Initiative
> Film screenings
> Bee banquets
2. Experiential Apiculture: HUB Hive Project
> Installing and maintaining a beehive on the roof Pfoho House, with the approval of Environmental Health & Safety, and Harvard FAS Office of Planning & Physical Resources
3. Community Training, Individual Skill-building: Campus outreach workshop series:
> Community speakers alerts through HUB mailing list
> Organizing visits by local beekeepers and beekeeping instructors
