The Buzz

This blog is the collaborative work of a class at UNC-Chapel Hill. The course is part of the C-START (Carolina Students Taking Academic Responsibility through Teaching) program, and is a one-hour course taught by Jesalyn Keziah, a Senior Undergraduate.

The course is highly interactive and will incorporate multiple methods of approach. Instead of turning in assignments by paper, we will be posting reflections, thoughts, observations, and interesting bee-related links to this blog. We hope that this will allow us a new means of communication and of spreading information about a very important species!

The course description is as follows:

Bees are more than honey producing, stinging creatures...they are the glue (or, propolis, if you will) that ties together the production and genetic diversity of many of the plants that make up our natural environment. One in every three bites of food that we eat comes from plants that are pollinated by bees. Albert Einstein famously quoted that if the bees go extinct, human life will not be able to sustain itself for more than 6 years. And scarily, the past few years have seen colonies worldwide dying off in astonishing numbers in a phenomenon called Colony Collapse Disorder. In this course, we will learn about the history of bees, their behind-the-scenes ties to our everyday life, past and present research of disease, agrochemical threats, and other factors in the CCD phenomenon, and the steps we as a community can take to save our bees--and ultimately, ourselves.

"Each observer, according to the color of his mind and the background of his experience, sees in this insect commonwealth individual facets of a many-sided whole. The moralist, the philosopher, the artist, the engineer, the poet, the political scientist; all have contemplated the bees with a sense of humility and awe. Even the most unimaginative of men, if he understands the things he sees, must find in the complex civilization of the hive a sense of lasting wonder. "

-- Edwin Way Teale, The Golden Throng

This course offers an interdisciplinary approach to understanding the bee and her place in our biology textbooks, agricultural system, poetry, and backyard garden. To do so, we will employ a number of resources, including selected passages from literature, peer-reviewed scientific research, film clips, conversations with local beekeepers, observation in floral areas of campus, a honey tasting competition, and most importantly, the collective knowledge and memory of the class.

The course will be highly interactive, and it is expected that the classroom culture will be one of community, collaboration, and participation. The classroom interaction will vary widely, including group activities, outside speakers, classroom discussions, and will encompass activities tuned to different learning styles and avenues of engagement.

Thanks for reading!