The buzz of bees is not an unfamiliar sound for Brad Hill, a sophomore biology major from Utah, who suits up and braves hives of thousands of bees every week, as part of his campus job.
Hill was recently swarmed by a hive of agitated bees. “I went in and they swarmed me. They were not in a good mood that day and just attacked.” Hill said the reason for the attack was likely due to the sensitive nature of the bees he works with saying, “You never know what the bees’ mood will be on any given day.”
He dealt with the situation by “remain[ing] calm and us[ing] the smoker.” The smoker he referred to is a canister that disperses smoke, which subdues the bees. Eventually after remaining still, the bees dispersed.
When hearing of the bee attack, senior Amanda Moore from New Mexico majoring in political science, said, “It’s crazy that it happened, but it’s cool that he knew what to do in that situation. It shows how important it is to know the right way to do things so that when things go wrong, you know how to handle it.”
Hill said the attack was uncharacteristic of the bees. They usually go about their business and aren’t a problem. Though this experience is overwhelming and terrifying for some, Hill was unfazed and said, “I’m going back. I’m not worried about it. It’s one of those things you just have to respect and try to understand.”
Hill works for the BYU–Hawaii Facilities Management Office. He originally applied for the job of recycling worker. He said, “I do that, but it’s just open to everything. We work with so many different things; I go to work and never know what I’m going to be doing. They just kind of throw us into all these crazy projects–the bee [project] was one of them–I never thought I would be doing that, coming to BYU!”
Hill said the plans for the BYUH bee project are extensive, and as the program grows, the Facilities Management team hopes to have enough hives so BYUH students can contribute to successful hives and combat this growing issue. Hill said, “For the time being, the most important thing we can do is spread awareness.”
Hill and the Facilities Management team said they are hoping to increase the number of successful hives 10 times over in the coming years. The goal is to have 100 hives and eventually the possibility of a honey business. Hill continued, “We’re very ambitious here at Facilities Management.”
For Hill, the experience he’s gained bee-keeping has changed his emphasis and future career plans. He said it has helped him discover his passion for environmental studies. He said he is especially concerned with the ongoing problem of hive collapse and wants to help the species he has been working with. He explained how bees are in a crisis.
According to globalresearch.org, “In the last half decade alone, 30 percent of the national bee population has disappeared and nearly a third of all bee colonies in the U.S. have perished. Though the rate of bee depopulation is growing each year, 42 percent more last year than the year before, even at the current annual rate the estimated monetary loss is a colossal 30 billion dollars a year.”
Hill said a lot of people are unaware of the struggle that the bees are facing and the impact that it could potentially have on people. According to the Natural Resources Defense Counsel, bees play a role in producing a third of all food resources.