‘Buzzworthy’ program arrives at Waterloo Public Library to teach community about bees

A new program at the Eastside Branch of the Waterloo Public Library called Teaching Beehive is ready to educate the community about bees. 

The beehive arrived earlier in the week and Anjana Kipfer, the manager of marketing and communications at Waterloo Public Library, said programs will be offered to learn more about the bees.

“We'll have different workshops where people can meet our beekeeper, her name is Olivia,” Kipfer said. “She comes and does maintenance on the beehive and helps take care of the bees while they produce some honey.”

The honey that the bees produce will be used as a part of the program. 

“Honey is harvested in the fall, and we'll have about 100 jars of honey that we will use for programs and for teaching,” said Kipfer. 

There are currently 7,500 bees at the library, but that number could increase to as high as 100,000 as the hive multiplies.

The bees are a variety of a type that comes from Italy and are considered to be very friendly. They are not aggressive unless they feel threatened so the library recommends giving them space and observing while they are busy doing their work. 

Along with going to view the bees, individuals can also follow how far the bees are travelling, and how many there are on the library website.
 
You can learn more about Teaching Beehive by clicking here.