New beehive at UAB Gardens means more pollinators on campus

Written by Haley Herfurth

April 29, 2021

Editor's Note: The information published in this story is accurate at the time of publication. Always refer to uab.edu/uabunited for UAB's current guidelines and recommendations relating to COVID-19.

A Foxhound Bee Co. employee stuffed pine needles into a smoker in order to open a beehive. LEXI COON / University Relations
A Foxhound Bee Co. employee stuffed pine needles into a smoker in order to open a beehive. LEXI COON / University Relations
Using the smoker, the beehive is opened. LEXI COON / University Relations
Using the smoker, the beehive is opened. LEXI COON / University Relations
The honeybees began to exit their carriers. LEXI COON / University Relations
A look inside the carriers. LEXI COON / University Relations
A beehive frame filled with honey bees. LEXI COON / University Relations
A beehive frame filled with honey bees. LEXI COON / University Relations
A beehive frame filled with honey bees. LEXI COON / University Relations
A beehive frame filled with honey bees. LEXI COON / University Relations
A beehive frame filled with honey bees. LEXI COON / University Relations
Bees and their honeycomb. LEXI COON / University Relations

Royalty has come to campus in the form of two queen honeybees and their subjects — about 40,000 worker bees.

Two small beehives were installed this month in the UAB Gardens to increase pollination in the area, which helps sustain Alabama’s native ecosystem. The bee waystation, situated in a fenced area across from the UAB Solar House, joins the adjacent monarch butterfly habitat, which was built this past fall to house milkweed plants and other nectar plants for monarch butterflies.

“These beehives are a first step for UAB in becoming a safe haven for honeybees, which are a threatened population in the United States.”

“These beehives are a first step for UAB in becoming a safe haven for honeybees, which are a threatened population in the United States,” said Bambi Ingram, UAB Sustainability manager. “Honeybees pollinate melons, cotton and other crops in Alabama and are important to our ecosystem — I’m so proud that UAB recognizes their importance and wants to create a special place for them on our campus.”

The bees were provided through a partnership between UAB Sustainability, University Events and Foxhound Bee Co., a local company that provides beekeeping supplies and instruction.

“As the bees get situated in their new space, they will start bringing in pollen and nectar from their environment to help support their colony,” explained Adam Hickman, who owns Foxhound and is a certified master beekeeper. “And with some good weather and luck, they will bring in excess nectar to turn into honey that we can harvest.”

Click to enlargeMore monarchs on campus

An additional monarch waystation was added at the corner of 10th Avenue South and 14th Street near Honors Hall as part of a collaboration between UAB Sustainability and the Science and Technology Honors Program (SciTech). UAB is on a national registry of waystations and, along with Forest Park’s Altamont School, is one of only two certified monarch butterfly habitats in Birmingham.

In previous iterations of STH 201, “Research Approaches,” students conducted traditional lab work entirely indoors. However, a new section of STH 201, taught by Mary Williams, Ph.D., credentialed course instructor for SciTech, focuses primarily on ecology and evolution and can incorporate more field work.

Williams helped install the Altamont School’s waystation — and one at her home — and decided creating a new butterfly habitat outside Honors Hall was a safe group exercise for her STH 201 students. Together, they wrote a proposal to build and sustain the habitat, and they explored ideas to add a bat habitat and other plant life and continue its use as a research site for students. Williams worked with UAB Sustainability and plant expert Lindsey Best, a UAB Facilities groundskeeper and urban conservationist, to purchase seeds that students germinated and additional plants from a local grower — 22 of 25 of which are species native to Alabama.

“Some students had previous research experience but had never done gardening work,” Williams said. “This project focused on conservation biology while beautifying campus, learning science and writing proposals. It really was making the best out of what we had to work with during COVID, which is really challenging when doing hands-on, inquiry-based lab work and working to keep people safe.”

Click through a slideshow to see Honors students planting the new monarch waystation.

Published in Sustainability