Video By Logan Boushell
Story By Emma Gargiulo
At the start of the fall 2021 semester, I was a new freshman on campus, weaving through the mass of students on Alumni Lane. The C&O expo was in progress, and everywhere I looked there were students clustering around tables, curious as to what each club had to offer. Over the noise I hear someone yell “You want to pet a bee?” My first thought was that I absolutely wanted to pet a bee.
I joined Apiary Society my first semester on campus. It was the only club I joined, and it didn’t take me very long to become invested in the organization. I quickly moved up the ranks from general member, to “honorary exec member,” club secretary, and now Apiary Society president.
Apiary Society has seen many buzzing bees and busy students over the years. The club has a deep history here at DelVal, existing at the university for over four decades. Apiary Society first appears in the 1968 edition of The Cornucopia, the school’s yearbook. Alumni of the club often speak fondly of their time with the honeybees and of Dr. Berthold who served as the club’s advisor for many years. As a current member, I have gotten to hear many stories about flavored honey the club used to make, Dr. Berthold’s “Bee Beard” presentations and A-Day, and more.
Apiary Society, or as members today lovingly call it “Bee Club” can be a difficult club to describe. The answer to “what does the club do” is a lengthy one. I usually say that bee club does everything bees, and truly we do.
The club has a few different aspects to it. It is , in part, educational. Students get hands on experience with the honeybees, learning beekeeping practices from our advisor Dr. Aloyo. Club meetings are also just a fun social gathering. The club has a very casual, laid back culture, making it a great time for members to socialize and unwind a bit from the stressful student life. The other side of the club is that we function as a sort of mini business.
Most club meetings we are bottling honey, or making honey and beeswax products such as lip balms, candles, and hand cream. My executive team and I spend much of our time trying to foster a fun and engaging club culture whilst also keeping track of inventory, placing orders for supplies, researching packaging options, designing and printing labels for products, and preparing for the club’s most important three days – A-Day.
A-day is my favorite part of being in Apiary Society. I spend almost the entire three days at the club table, selling honey and chatting to people about bees, and showing off our observation hive, all while the Apiary Society playlist hums in the background. Our A-Day table is a display of all the hard work the club has put in over the course of the academic years. I always have a sense of pride in our table, and I love getting to share it with so many people.
As president, I am very proud of Bee Club this year. Over the past four years our club has been struggling to pull out of our pandemic lull, and this year I feel like the club has finally revived. For the first time since joining we have had a committed core or members that have continued to show up for every club meeting, and because of this we have able to bring back some exciting products of Apiary Society past. This year at A-Day, in addition to our usual lip balms and honey, we will also have flavored honey, creamed honey, and Apiary Society merchandise!
If you want to know more about our club, follow @dvuapiarysociety on Instagram for updates, or if find yourself at A-Day this year, come check out Apiary Society by the library. We’re buzzing to meet you!
A special thanks to my executive team Caroline Honsel, Smith Easton, Jillian Horowitz-Kurtzberg, and Ash Hussain for always having my back and doing amazing work this year, and shout out to all the Apiary Society members buzzing around campus!
