Auburn for Bees was created on campus in the spring of 2017 by Kressie Kornis, now president of the organization. Kornis created the club because she felt there should be more awareness on how important the bees are to every community. They now have 60 active members and travel to elementary schools in the area to educate the younger generations on the importance of bees and pollination.
With the help of Kornis, other schools have decided to create their own programs to spread awareness for the bees. Since these schools have developed programs, Auburn for Bees has come to be officially called “For the Bees”. For example, schools from London, Rhode Island, California and Texas have all started their own chapters of For the Bees.
When asked what the main goals of the organization is and why it was developed, Kornis states “Our goal is to educate Auburn students and the Auburn community of the importance of bees. Many people don’t realize just how important bees are to us. Statistically, 1/3 bites of food are made possible from pollination. Without bees, we wouldn’t have many of the fruits and veggies we know and love like apples, tomatoes, avocados, even coffee, just to name a few”.
To raise funds for these goals the club sells bracelets with phrases like “Save Bees” or “For the Bees”, and sell buttons with a play-off of Dr. Seuss’s The Lorax by using the phrase “I speak for the bees”. The club typically sells these on the concourse twice a month and answer questions people may have about the specifics of the club or how it helps support bees. According to Kornis, “most of the profits we make go towards maintaining our plot in the community garden, supplies for Beeducation, and the fun stuff we have on the concourse. I’m extremely proud to say this semester alone we have raised around two grand!”
Beeducation is a program started by the club for members to go to the local Auburn elementary schools to educated the students on how important it is that bees are kept alive and well for the betterment of local communities and around the world. There are a lot of opportunities for the kids to get hands on experience with the effect bees have on people. Kornis explains this and gives examples by discussing that the members help these young students get involved. She explains this by stating “one of our members, Adler Salem, is an actual beekeeper and the kids just adore talking to him. He brings his beekeeping veil for them to try on, a honey comb, and a mesh box of drone bees. With our guidance, the children can hold one of the drone bees (they don’t have stingers)—and they love this! I think this is a great way to teach kids not to be afraid of bees and show that they’re actually pretty cute and fuzzy. The director of Beeducation, Hannah Burke, told me that one of her kids wrote Adler a note with a question about bees, and I thought that was absolutely adorable. For us to have only had the program going for one semester, I’m extremely proud of how successful it has been so far”.
The organization accepts applications for membership at the beginning of each semester and anyone can follow the Instagram fun by their social media chair, Emily Perino. The Instagram is “auburnforbees”, and the Auburn concourse is also a great way to ask questions and look into involvement.
Do you like this story? The Plainsman doesn't accept money from tuition or student fees, and we don't charge a subscription fee. But you can donate to support The Plainsman.
