To inform its community about the role the university's hive plays in the ecology, the University of Maryland, Baltimore, invited a beekeeper to speak to the campus.
"I think a lot of people tend to think of beekeeping as something you do in more suburban or rural area," said Elizabeth Main, director of sustainability and special projects at UMB. "We have…School(s) of Medicine, Pharmacy, Nursing, so for those in that public health sector to realize the value of bees and show up today is really telling."
In March, local beekeeper Bill Castro of Bee Friendly Aviary set up a colony on the rooftop garden on the seventh floor. "Sometimes, it's kind of an experiment to place bees someplace and see how well they do," Castro explained. "You would think you wouldn't be able to find much nutrition down on the street, but this healthy colony of bees tells you otherwise."