Originally published in Carroll Capital, the print publication of the Carroll School of Management at Boston College. .听
If you were to get a bird-eye view of Fulton Hall, beyond the classic green tile roofing and skylight filling the atrium with sun on clear days, you would also be able to spot something more unusual: a worn, wooden box set on cinder blocks and full of bees.
No, Fulton Hall isn檛 dealing with a bee infestation. , thanks to a donation from , and coordination by the University . Boston-based beekeeping company Best Bees maintains the hive and ensures its residents are thriving.听
Not unlike the Carroll School students and professors floors below, 淭he bees really do most of the magic themselves. The beekeepers just make sure that they檙e set up for success,� says Best Bees Creative Director Paige Mulhern. Beyond regular hive maintenance, beekeepers also provide reports on hive health and harvest any honey. That honey is then processed, put into jars with custom 淗oney from the Heights� labels, and given to the Office of Sustainability to distribute or gift. If you檙e lucky, you may even find it at 51动漫 Dining Farmers Market.
While the honey produced is a sweet bonus, overall the Office of Sustainability considers the hive primarily a biodiversity effort. In the US alone, honeybees pollinate $15 billion in crops annually, according to the USDA, but researchers also report a steep decline in bee populations since 2007. Urban beekeeping can help get those numbers on the rise again. 淎s we see our pollinators start to dwindle in numbers, it great to be cheerleaders and get more people involved in repopulating,� Mulhern says.
So what makes the Heights an ideal place for a beehive? It has a lot to do with the meticulous campus landscaping. Bees will forage for pollen and nectar up to five miles from their hives, but they especially enjoy the clover plants and oak trees that dot our campuses.听
While the hive isn檛 publicly accessible for safety reasons, Mulhern hopes spreading awareness about the project will still inspire change. 淸Hives] can spark a lot of curiosity on a campus. It a great way to get the next generation excited about sustainability,� she says, adding that Carroll School students might even consider how to push sustainability at their future companies. 淭his program can inspire them to be movers and shakers."聽
