February 6, 2008

A three-day workshop on keeping honeybees was offered for the first time to the students in the Sustainable Living Program during Block 5 as part of a course on Planning a Family Farm, which emphasizes holistic and ecological farm management.

The workshop was taught by Vern Ramsey of Ramsey Honey Farm, Birmingham, Iowa. Mr. Ramsey is an experienced beekeeper and district director of the Iowa Honey Producers Association.

Following the approval by the Fairfield City Council to keep bees on campus, Mr. Ramsey offered his assistance in establishing an apiary on campus, resulting in his recent workshop.

The goal of the beekeeping workshop was to give students the knowledge to start their own small-scale apiary or to work in an existing apiary. The students received a certificate of completion from the Iowa Honey Producers Association.

"This beekeeping course is just another development in the Sustainable Living Program to offer our students the best and most comprehensive experience in a truly sustainable food production," said faculty member Alex Kachan, who organized the workshop with the help of student Elisabet Humble. "Especially now, in light of the globally spreading problem of Colony Collapse Disorder (CCD), which so far has annihilated about 800,000 hives in the U.S., it is crucial to teach people about organic beekeeping and to incorporate a small organic apiary in every garden, farm, and even a backyard. According to the experts, such diversification and decentralization is a key strategy to neutralize CCD and ensure proper pollination of so many of our food crops."

Besides learning the theory of beekeeping and watching video tutorials, the students also built hives and honeycombs, which will be used in April by the student club The Bee Collective to establish five honeybee colonies on the Sustainable Living mini-farm on campus. The hive and honeycomb parts were purchased with funds from the Global Student Council.

Students of all majors, faculty, and staff who are interested in taking the three-day beekeeping workshop are invited to contact Mr. Kachan at akachan@mum.edu.

November 14, 2007

Following the establishment of the Student Bee Collective club last month, student Elisabet Humble and Sustainable Living faculty member Alex Kachan recently gained the approval of the Fairfield City Council to keep beehives on campus.

The reason for seeking that approval is a city code that prohibits keeping bees within the city limits. However, due to the small scale of the operation and the remote location for the hives, the City Council granted permission.

The hives will be located on the north side of Crow Creek, where there are neither buildings nor pedestrian traffic — an area designated to remain a green belt in the Maharishi University of Management master plan.

Ms. Humble, a Sustainable Living major, said that the new club is dedicated to the art of organic beekeeping and that the bees will be important for crop pollination on the Sustainable Living mini-farm as well as for educational purposes, enabling students to learn about organic honey production.

Ms. Humble said that the Student Bee Collective plans to start with four hives next March, thanks to funds allocated for this purpose by the Global Student Council and thanks to the support of University administration.

“This initiative is a wonderful addition to our very new student garden and the Sustainable Living program,” said Mr. Kachan, who has two years of practical experience in beekeeping. “And it will enable us to provide the dining hall with significant amounts of our own local organic honey by next summer.”

The Fairfield City Council unanimously voted for approval, with City Councilman Myron Gookin saying, “I feel it’s a great project, and fits in well with what the University is doing.”