Beekeeping demonstration highlights campus sustainability efforts

KOKOMO, Ind. - Xen Kelly and Rachel Susong couldn't "bee" any more excited to put on protective gear and inspect hives as part of Indiana University Kokomo's Sustainability Week.

The two assisted campus beekeeper Denise Shue as she opened hives in Sustainability Meadow, removing frames and looking for larvae, brood, and babies, along with the queen. Shue, owner of Shue Bee Farm, narrated their actions, while Kelly and Susong carried frames over to a screened-in tent that allowed about two dozen students, faculty, staff, and community members to watch safely.

"I felt awestruck to be up close and personal with something you're taught to avoid your whole life," said Susong, a biology major from Kokomo. She added that the bees are an important part of the Office of Sustainability's plans to refurbish the meadow, which is just east of the parking garage.

"We're taking on a huge project to revitalize this area, to plant as many native plants as we can, and having pollinators gives them an extra boost to keep them healthy," she said. "They let us keep planting and planting to restore this space and make it everything we want it to be."

While Susong has worked with Shue before, it was Kelly's first opportunity.

"It was very hard and very cool," he said. "It gives you a new perspective of these tiny creatures and what they actually do. It makes you appreciate it. I'm kind of awestruck how they can create this wax and this honey. They are tiny bees, but they do so much."

Shue and her assistants, all wearing white beekeeping clothes covering their bodies and heads, moved calmly among the hives, unbothered as hundreds of European honeybees flew around them.

"Hi, Honey," Shue said to one bee as it flew in circles around her head. As the campus beekeeper, she harvested almost 300 pounds of honey from the campus's four colonies in 2025 and recently completed the 2026 harvest. For her work, she receives half of the honey harvest, while the campus keeps the rest.

Members of the Student Sustainability Council, along with Office of Sustainability interns, will bottle their share to sell later at the fall semester, so it continues to benefit campus, according to Andy Tuholski, the office's director.

"All that money goes back into the trees we are adding to our meadow and our campus," he said.

The beekeeping demonstration was just one of the Sustainability Week activities, which also included tree planting and campus clean up, painting terra cotta flower planters, and an artist talk by Minda Douglas, associate professor of fine arts, highlighting her Art Gallery exhibition inspired by U.S. and Canadian national parks.

Volunteers have also planted some of the first apple trees on any IU campus, cleared invasive plants around Kokomo Creek to restore water flow, and built a bridge over the creek. These efforts have resulted in IU Kokomo's designation as a Bee Campus USA and Tree Campus USA.

Future projects include expanding from four to 10 bee colonies, and planting flower seeds to add beauty to the campus and provide pollen for the bees.

"We planted over 60 trees over the last week, which is one of the biggest ecological projects we've ever had," Tuholski said. "I'm super excited about the potential of this area, and that only happens because we have students, faculty, staff, everyone, coming together to do the hard manual labor that creates a unique environment for this IU campus. I'm grateful folks want to come out and learn."

Susong said the week gives students an opportunity to learn about how they can contribute to sustainability, and she was happy so many participated in activities.

"Eventually, we hope to get an outdoor classroom," she said. "Part of the early stages of that is doing demonstrations and showing what we do, educating students about the bees and the native plants we're planting and the refurbishment of the creek. We want to educate on what we do and the amazing things the Office of Sustainability is doing."

Education is KEY at Indiana University Kokomo.