Honey Bees on Campus

There’s a swarm of honey bees on the Institute of American Indian Arts (IAIA) Campus, and they’re working to bring goodness to the students, staff, and faculty. IAIA’s Land-Grant program established honey bee hives on campus this spring and hired several student-workers to help grow the community of pollinators. In turn, the bees will provide food sustenance and products that can be used for student art.

As pollinators, the bees also play a vital role in maintaining equilibrium within the ecosystem. Pollination directly impacts the production of food, and it helps to maintain ecological biodiversity. Sustainability is one of the core values at IAIA, and introducing this population of bees is helping to support the revitalization of biodiversity on the IAIA Campus and surrounding community in line with IAIA’s Climate Action Plan.

Land-Grant, in partnership with Continuing Education (CE), will host webinars that discuss honey bees in three distinct ways—ecological impact, nurturing and revitalizing local landscape, and developing more habitat for pollinators.

Listen to a short audio recording of Land-Grant Extension Educator Melanie Kirby (Tortugas Pueblo) and learn more about IAIA’s beekeeping journey. Visit IAIA Continuing Education to view the course schedule.

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