Westminster Bee Company launches in-store sales

The newly founded Westminster Bee Company (WBC), a student-led business focused on selling the sweet golden substance produced at Westminster College’s bee apiary, will officially launch honey sales at the Campus Store on Saturday, Oct. 29.  

The Westminster apiary—founded in 2019 by Dr. Patrick Krantz, associate professor of environmental science—houses nearly 30 hives and almost 2 million honeybees, which creates a surplus of honey and opportunities for students of various disciplines to be involved in the WBC honey business. The WBC was developed in spring 2022 by students in the environmental entrepreneurship course who were charged with creating a sustainable, student-led enterprise with the products of the apiary.  

Westminster students, from a variety of disciplines, are involved in all aspects of the WBC. Krantz teaches apiary management—the science of beekeeping—in both fall and spring terms, and these students help manage the hives and extract the honey. He also co-teaches the cluster course BuzzFeed with Bradley Weaver, broadcast and sports communication lecturer, in which students post content about Westminster’s honeybees and beekeeping on social media.

“It’s been an amazing process to see the students come together to make the Westminster Bee Company a reality,” said Dr. Helen Boylan, professor of chemistry and director of the Center for the Environment. “This has been a wonderful model of collaboration with STEM, business, humanities and other disciplines coming together to achieve a common goal.”

Students in Boylan’s environmental entrepreneurship course are responsible for the marketing, label design and pricing for the WBC, as well as helping to bottle and label the honey.

The raw honey, which is hand-bottled and all natural, is available in three sizes: 15 oz. ($20), 10 oz. ($14), and 5.5 oz. ($8). All proceeds from honey sales support environmental education and maintenance of the apiary at Westminster College.

This sales launch follows the inaugural sales of WBC honey at Homecoming on Oct. 15. Additional fall events featuring pop-up honey sales by WBC students at the McKelvey Campus Center include:

Admission Open House: 9 a.m. to noon, Oct. 29

Alternative Gift Market: 10 a.m. to 2 p.m., Nov. 16

Student Symposium on the Environment: 5:30 to 7:30 p.m., Dec. 1

The WBC and the apiary are initiatives of the Center for the Environment at Westminster College.

For more information on the WBC and honey sales, please contact Boylan at boylanhm@westminster.edu. For more information about the apiary and the honeybees, please contact Dr. Krantz at krantzpd@westminster.edu.

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