Supporting UB Bees

Locally, nationally, and globally, honey bees are threatened. Hives and colonies are dying at alarming rates, at times reaching nearly 50%, from a multitude of causes including pesticides, invasive species and parasites, loss of habitat and food, and many others. The loss of honey bees and other keytsone pollinators can have disastrous outcomes for our food web and environmental health, and so to help boost their population and raise overall awareness of the challenges they face, UB Bees was founded in spring 2019. This environmental initiative has three main aims:

1.) Increase the amount of pollinators, and pollinator friendly flowers on campus to improve our ecological and environmental health.

2.) Provide a new and open resource for UB students, faculty, and staff to interact with the hives, and generate exciting learning and research opportunities.

3.) Improve UB's overall sustainability by providing local campus honey to dining halls and food banks. 

To date, we have created opportunities for nearly 100 students to interact with the bees, started a new research project evaluating the use of a mushroom extract to reduce viral load, developed an outside the classroom learning activity for an undergraduate class, partnered with a local elementary school to teach their students about pollinators, and harvested nearly four gallons of honey!  Our success is only growing, yet we need your help you continue growing and bringing these experiences and opportunities to the UB community.

UB Bees was created with funds and support from the Honors College Research and Creative Initiative Fund and UB Sustainability, however we have no active budget or funding. Please consider donating to UB Bees today to support our hives and project!