first time on May 3 to check their health.
Dr. Charles Harrington, a veteran beekeeper and member
of the business school faculty, declared the four hives, located
in COMtech Park near the University's Sartorius Stedim
Biotechnology Center, to be "very healthy and active."
The hives are the first of several dozen planned by the UNCP
Honey Bee Center that will fan out across the region, said Dr. Len
Holmes, a biotechnology researcher.
"Bees in North America are under a lot of stress for reasons
we don't completely understand," Dr. Holmes said. "We are
working with local beekeepers in hopes of promoting beekeeping
and to do research on bees."
A sample of spring honey offered a taste of good things to
come. As a group of interested hive owners looked on, Dr.
Harrington examined the hives after applying smoke to calm
them.
"I got interested in beekeeping through my grandfather," Dr.
Harrington said. "I see heavy pollen flow and bees working the
combs nicely."
An October harvest is planned if all goes well, he said.
"The queen is healthy and rapidly turning over her brood," Dr.
Harrington said. "I estimate between 12,500 and 15,000 bees in
this hive."
Looking on was Forrest Malcolm, son of Joshua Malcolm,
UNCP's attorney.
"Forrest has raised everything from dogs and turtles to fruits
and vegetables," his father said. "We thought this would be very
interesting."
Megan Locklear was taking notes. She is a student at Robeson
Community College who will attend UNCP in the fall.
"I am working with Dr. Holmes on this project, and I hope
to continue doing research in the fall," Locklear said. "I want to
major in biology."
Dr. David Oxendine, a faculty member in the School of
Education, was on hand, too.
Oxendine said. "I have always wanted to do this."
Dr. Holmes said the panel he picked up weighed about 10
pounds, a good sign of a productive hive. "Loaded with honey,"
he said.
Dr. Holmes and his student research team will study the hives
with an eye for problems.
"We'll conduct basic research on the biological and
environmental agents that negatively influence bees," Dr. Holmes
said. "We'll promote beekeeping as a hobby and collect data
on hive locations to share with regional and state beekeeping
associations."
UNCP hopes to become a resource for beekeeping in this
agricultural region and preserve the pollinators to build a stronger
economy.
The project is funded in part by a grant from the Robeson
County Farm Bureau and in cooperation with COMtech,
a regional business incubator located in Robeson County.
UNCP's project is a member of the N.C. Honey Bee Research
Consortium.
Phillips will help solve the "mystery" of Carolina bays.
A $25,000, two-year, NASA grant through North Carolina's
Space Grant Consortium will aid his research.
"The mystery of the bays' origins is a bit overdone," Dr.
Phillips said. "We will take core samples to learn how old they
are."
The project "Carolina Bays: A Paleo-climatic Perspective"
will engage undergraduates in a scientific investigation with
"potentially global significance," Dr. Phillips said.
From preliminary surveys that Dr. Phillips and an
undergraduate student have already performed, two poster
presentations have resulted, one at a joint meeting of the
Geological Society of America. That poster, by environmental
science major Sidney Post, was titled "Delineation of Spatial
Variances of Carolina Bays within Robeson County, N.C."