Student advocate and safety coordinator Matthew Pohl dressed as a beekeeper for Halloween. As part of his costume, he set up a small beekeeping demonstration in the cafeteria on Oct. 31. The demonstration included a vintage smoker from the ’80s and a model beehive.
The hive is a scale replica of an actual hive, but given its size, it works far better for demonstrations. The replica comes apart to show the differences between the top and bottom halves of the hive. Also on his table is a vintage smoker that is used to confuse the bees’ sense of smell and keep them from getting agitated when working with them.
Beekeeping is a profession with many struggles, the most pressing being winter.
“The challenge of trying to keep them through the winter. The prep starts all the way back in July and you have to feed them and care for them all through this time,” said Pohl.
Pohl has been a beekeeper as a hobby for a number of years but is finally starting to see success selling the honey.
“I am going on five years of doing this,” said Pohl. ”It’s now finally taking off.”
