Since Sunday, April 22, Colorado State University is officially a bee certified school. 

Bee hives were placed on the west side of Durrell in an effort to make CSU a more bee friendly campus. The bees, brought by the Apiculture Club in conjuncture with the Pollinator Friendly Campus Committee, are here to help protect the flora around campus.

Kirstie Tedrick, the sustainability coordinator for CSU, and one of the people responsible for making the hives possible, explained why bees were even brought to campus in the first place.

“It actually all started with a concerned student that wanted to save the dandelions that grow on our lawns for native pollinators,” Tedrick wrote in an email to The Collegian. “We understand the significant role that pollinators have in our ecosystem so we wanted to be able to promote habitats, food sources, and safe places for nesting here at CSU.”

After concerns were raised surrounding the bees, the Pollinator Friendly Campus Committee was formed. CSU faculty, staff and students with experience in environmental safety, landscape architecture, bee and pollinator research sit on the committee in addition to members of student organizations, Housing and Dining Services and the President’s Sustainability Commission, Tedrick said.

The committee, as well as the current version of the Apiculture Club, worked with Housing and Dining services to provide a place for the bees. Freddie Haberecht, facilities manager and part of the Apiculture Club, discussed why the bees were an important opportunity for students.

Haberecht said that the Apiculture Club maintains the hives and hopes that one day they will be able to produce honey to bring the full benefit of the bees to students. The hives, funded by the Housing and Dining Services Sustainability Fund, serve as a learning urban agriculture site for students.

After the three hives were placed in the northernmost fire escape at the Durrell Dining Center, the Pollinator Friendly Campus Committee thought it would be only fitting to apply to become a certified pollinator friendly university through Bee Campus USA.

The three hives are not the only bee friendly additions to campus. A pollinator bed outside of Clark A was the first of many bee areas designed with the sustainability of the creatures in mind, as the committees webpage explains.

For those worried about the increased bee activity, the committee has a response in place. Their webpage reports that anyone worried about swarms, nuisance bees, wasps or hornets should contact Environmental Health Services.

The hives on campus are part of an effort to increase sustainability and to minimize impact on the environment.

Haberecht explained the significance of the hives, purely for the students.

“These are the first student run and student learning oriented hives that have been on campus in fifty years,” Haberecht said.

Collegian reporter Meagan Stackpool can be reached at news@collegian.com or on Twitter @meaganstackpool.