THE SWEET TASTE OF SUCCESS

By Sofia Rivera ‘24

Just a few steps behind Facilities & Grounds Superintendent David Beasley on the edge of the Boys Division roof, Sam Koch ’24 opens a crate home to more than one hundred active bees and one royal queen. Despite the colony’s impressive size, it isn’t widely known that Regis Jesuit has housed a group of bees on the rooftop for more than a year. The colony began after then-current student Brodie Halker ‘22 pitched the idea to Principal Jimmy Tricco, who immediately approved the ingenious undertaking. The hive has been a proactive step for the RJ community to help the environment and teach students about bees' critical role in our ecosystem. Additionally, a business run by Koch sells honey from Regis Jesuit’s rooftop colony and has been expanding its beehive count every year.

“It’s fascinating and important for the environment,” says Koch. Making honey and pollinating plants is no simple task. Luckily, honeybees are diligent workers and excellent team members. Hives are often divided into individual groups: workers who forage for food, builders that protect the hive and bees who keep the pack clean. Each hive requires ongoing maintenance from its own bees, and occasionally from humans. Koch visits the RJ hive weekly during the school year and even over the summer. He routinely checks for parasites and losses in the bee population due to cold weather, and has facilitated the entry of a new queen bee.

60,000

These hives have been an unseen but significant part of the local environment since they began buzzing on campus. This is especially important today as scientists have reported a mass loss in bee colonies. This sudden loss in bees has had a massive impact on our flowers, fruits and vegetables that honeybees traditionally pollinate daily. RJ’s colony will not end the issue, but it is a step in the right direction.

This bee project has produced more than 60,000 workers from just the school’s hives, demonstrating the impact one student idea can have. And we won’t complain about a few gallons of honey each year!