Students present apiary research to beekeeper association

Two Westminster College students presented research at the Pennsylvania State Beekeepers Association annual membership meeting and conference Nov. 1-2 in State College, Pa.

Seniors Sara Small and Trevor McCabe shared their project, “Feasibility of Local Honey Co-op and Microplastic Analysis of Honey Sources,” which included work done by Small as part of a Drinko Center Summer Fellowship and her Honors Program research and McCabe’s summer internship at the Westminster College Field Station.

“The conference served as a wonderful opportunity to connect with experienced beekeepers throughout the state.  Their support and hospitality toward us as students, as well as general interest about the apiary initiative at Westminster, made me excited for the future of beekeeping in Pennsylvania,” said Small, an environmental project management major from Beaver, Pa.

Both Small and McCabe did extensive work at the Westminster College apiary over the summer months. The pair caught swarms and relocated them to new hives, removed queen excluders, switched honey frames, maintained the apiary grounds and created an organizational system to monitor hive progress.

“Through working at the Westminster College apiary over the summer, I learned how to manage an apiary and preserve honeybees for the future of the environment,” said McCabe, an environmental science major from Avon, N.Y.

For more information about the project or Westminster’s apiary initiative, please contact Dr. Patrick Krantz, associate professor of environmental science and director of Westminster’s Outdoor Laboratory, at krantpd@westminster.edu or 724-946-6097.

To learn more about Westminster’s environmental science program, click here.

Above, Sara Small and Trevor McCabe display their research poster at the Pennsylvania State Beekeepers Association conference.

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