PENN TOWNSHIP -- In Snyder County, there's some serious buzz about a bee club at Susquehanna University.
The group now has 15 members and is helping the school in all kinds of ways.
Josh Levesque and Marta Mendez carefully checked on the honeybees at Susquehanna University. The two are members of the university's brand new beekeeping club.
Levesque had the idea for the club after researching bees last year.
"I realized more and more about how bees are in trouble and there are interesting aspects about bees and beekeeping that weren't being taught at the school at all," Levesque said.
Levesque approached Professor Derek Straub and the two started the Susquehanna University Beekeeping Club.
"It's the students, especially led by Josh who have really been the driving force behind getting the bees out here," Straub said.
Levesque wrote grant proposals and got $1,400 from the university's biology and earth and environmental science departments.
"That was enough to pay for the hive boxes themselves, as well as supplies like the bee suits, smokers, and also the bees themselves," Straub said.
Levesque started the club because honeybees are in trouble and he wanted to help.
"There's a lot of different diseases and pests and parasites that are being spread around as the world becomes more interconnected," Levesque said.
14 other students joined the club, including Mendez.
"When Josh mentioned he was starting a beekeeping club, I got a little bit interested, so I thought I'd check it out," Mendez said.
Students from Susquehanna University also maintain a garden and a greenhouse. Having beehives here is a big asset to that.
"Bees are pollinators and so the garden needs pollinators and we have the bees right here to do that," Straub said.
Levesque "bee"lieves that more people will join the club next year.
