AMHERST — A small group of local and state officials, clad in white jackets and netted hats, gathered around Kim Skyrm as he held up a piece of honeycomb crawling with bees.
Skyrm, the state’s chief apiary inspector, had just taken it out of one of the boxes that house beehives. Soon, the overcast sky would also be swarming with bees.
The gathering was in celebration of Massachusetts’ “Pollinator Week,” an annual event that generally takes place the third week of June, which was held at one of the state’s two apiaries. The apiary at the University of Massachusetts Agricultural Learning Center in Amherst is a collaboration between the Massachusetts Department of Agricultural Resources (MDAR) and the university.
The apiary at UMass creates a fair amount of honey, about 500 pounds last year, but it isn’t used for commercial purposes. Instead, it’s donated to the local food banks.
“A lot of those communities that we donated honey to, some of them have never had honey,” Skyrm said. “You know, families that have never had access to that local resource.”
The 500 pounds came from the apiary’s 19 hives, which are maintained by MDAR. UMass students used to play a large role in maintaining the hives before the COVID-19 pandemic. The Beekeeping Club at UMass helped out, some courses allowed students to work hands-on with the bees, and MDAR hired student interns to work with the bees over the summer. However, because of COVID-19 restrictions, the hives have been maintained by MDAR for the past year.
One of MDAR’s main priorities for the hives is sustainability. The apiary features a solar-powered electric fence to keep bears out, a shed roof which has been converted into a water collector, and the state agency has planted thyme near the hives “so the apiary itself gives the bees a resource and also helps with water retention in space,” Skyrm said.
Among those at the apiary on Tuesday were John Lebeaux, MDAR commissioner, Mary Duane, president of the Massachusetts Beekeepers Association, and state Rep. Mary Keefe, D-Worcester. Keefe said she prides herself on being a beekeeper and on her honey, which she affectionately named “honey from the hood” because of her downtown Worcester area code.
“It’s really an urban beekeeping situation,” she said.
Keefe’s love of beekeeping is partly why she traveled to Amherst to support Pollinator Week. The event was made official when Gov. Charlie Baker signed a proclamation on June 1, urging “all citizens to take cognizance of this event and participate fittingly in its observance.” The week is meant to bring awareness to the importance of pollinators to the Massachusetts ecosystem, according to Lebeaux.
“We want people to be aware of the importance of pollinators and to try out a few things they might be able to do to support pollinator health and to support our beekeepers,” Lebeaux said.
Another reason that Lebeaux wants to bring awareness to pollinator health is because of its importance to the Massachusetts economy. Approximately 45% of crops in the state need pollination, meaning bees are in high demand. The honey business also brings money into Massachusetts.
“Last year our beekeepers yielded about 2 million pounds of honey, which is about $20 million worth of product,” Lebeaux said. “There’s also a substantial business actually selling live bees and selling equipment. That’s over $6 billion of additional business in the state.”
While Tuesday’s celebration focused on honeybees, they’re just one of 400 species that act as pollinators.
“We also have beetles, flies, wasps, moths and butterflies, serving this role in sustaining the food supply by providing pollination,” Lebeaux said. “Without them, we won’t have all the food that’s being produced.”
The state apiary and Pollinator Week is one of several initiatives that Massachusetts officials have undertaken to promote the importance of pollinators. On June 2, the state Department of Conservation and Recreation, in collaboration with MDAR, also launched the “Growing Wild Massachusetts” campaign, which aims to get free pollinator habitat starter kits to Massachusetts residents. The idea behind the initiative is to get people to create pollinator habitats in their own backyard.