Students make solitary bee hives for Academic Showcase

by Eben Gourlay
edited by Patrick Seavey

The academic showcase kicked off with FPU students and faculty giving solitary bees a home.

(Photo: Eben Gourlay)

The presentation was student led, featuring Bailey Braudis, John Grenier, Julia Crane and Kiki Doucette. The goal of the demonstration was to, “inform people of the importance of solitary bees and how we can help them in their habitats,” said Braudis. Using paper and duct tape, the students along with those in attendance created tubes that act as hives for solitary bees to lay their eggs. According to Grenier, “The bee population is going down, and lots of people don’t realize that solitary bees are fantastic pollinators.”

Solitary bees are not only strong pollinators, but they aren’t aggressive. “We not only want to teach people that the bees are important, but to break the stereotype that they only harm people,” said Crane.

After the presentation, Doucette said, “I thought the presentation went well, people seemed pretty excited to learn and everyone seemed to care about helping.” Crane added “A lot more people showed up than expected. Although it was a little more nerve racking, we were glad to see so many people interested.”