TROY, Ala. (TROJANVISION) — Troy University’s Arboretum is beginning development of an on-site honeybee observation hive in collaboration with a local apiary, Three’s Bees.
It’s an attempt to create some buzz around the importance of honeybee protection. Soon the Arboretum will open a honeybee hive to teach students and the community about bees’ role in nature and the dangers they face.
“Many pollinators are disappearing, and we depend on pollinators for most of the food that we eat so we’re going to put this in to kind of boost awareness of pollinators and their importance and the problems that they’re facing right now” Arboretum Director Dr. Alvin Diamond said.
The most prominent threat to honeybees is pests and predators that kill and eat them, which is something often uncontrollable by man, but another major danger to the honeybee population is much more easily controlled and has already done damage to the population.
“Probably the second highest threat to the honeybees is the pesticides that we use on our plants so we’re going to try to maintain a low pesticide use around here,” said owner of Three’s Bees, Trey Ingram.
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“They’ve really declined in numbers,” Diamond told TrojanVision. “60-70% of the honeybees have disappeared over the last say 14 years.”
While pointing out the dangers of pesticides and protecting the honeybees from them is one of the Arboretum’s main goals, it also places a heavy focus on educating the public on the importance of bees and why they must be taken care of.
“The goal is to provide a platform that we can bring people to and see for themselves that honeybees are very important and kind of get a better understanding of how a hive operates,” Ingram said. “A better understanding of what they do for our community and for our ecosystem.”
Ingram told TrojanVision they hope to have the observation hive operational around March 2026, right around the time that conditions are best for the pollinators.
