Last Wednesday, the Grand Valley State University Beekeepers welcomed students to the Niemeyer Multipurpose Room for one of their most anticipated traditions: honey bottling.
Long-standing club members, alongside curious new attendees, worked together to bottle fresh honey harvested from the University’s Sustainable Agriculture Project beehives, and learned more about the honey-making process.
Grace deBest, president of the GVSU Beekeepers and an environmental and sustainability studies major, said the event is one of several hands-on activities the group organizes each year to connect students with sustainability and the art of beekeeping.
“We do honey harvesting on the farm, and then we do honey bottling,” said deBest. “We usually have two or three honey-bottling events, and then we’re going to do a movie night on the farm so people can get out there because a lot of Beekeeping (members) don’t actually get out to the farm.”
DeBest further added the club is not exclusive, as all students are encouraged to attend events and develop an interest in the causes the group supports. She also noted the Beekeepers share members with other sustainability-focused student organizations on campus.
The honey-bottling event was an introduction to beekeeping for some students in attendance. Maya Johnson, a sophomore biology major, said the event gave her a deeper appreciation for the honey-bottling process.
“First, we released the honey from the buckets into glass jars, put on a golden lid, a bow and sticker to decorate and got them ready to sell,” Johnson said. “It was simple but made me realize how much effort goes into preparing something that looks so polished on the tables when they’re sold.”
While scheduling creative and social activities throughout the year is important to the group, the Beekeepers’ main goal is bee education. DeBest shared one of her favorite facts about the insect: honey can change color depending on the plant the bee pollinates from.
“There’s a specific flower that when they pollinate, the honey can turn purple, blue or even pink,” said deBest.
The club’s emphasis on sustainability education overlaps with a course offered at GVSU: ENS 311 – To Bee or Not to Bee: Honeybees and Social Impact, which offers students an academic lens into the world of beekeeping. Offered each fall semester, the three-credit class examines the centuries-old relationship between humans, honeybees and the natural environment through cultural, historical and agricultural perspectives. The course highlights the philosophical and political implications of pollination decline, encouraging students to think critically about sustainability, climate change and food security.
The group’s calendar is packed all year-round. This fall, the Beekeepers Club looks forward to collaborating with Plant Club and the Native American Student Association, who recently planted pollinator-friendly flowers around campus. In the winter, students can look forward to making lip balm, as well as an eyebrow wax inspired by the recent “soap-brow” trend. When spring comes around, the club will offer bee-trivia and other events, in hopes of forming partnerships with more organizations.
With jars of golden honey in hand and plenty of buzz about future projects, the Beekeepers contribute to the campus-wide discussion around combining community with sustainability.
