As part of the College’s Well-Being for All initiative, the Sustainability department offered a Honey Extraction workshop Oct. 30. The initiative has been set up to allow employees to have a break from their work routine, to promote inclusivity, to build a sense of community, and to improve collaboration between employees as well as promoting learning and growth. Keeping in mind those goals, the Honey Extraction workshop really fit the bill.

Led by Jennifer De Vera, the workshop was chock full of interesting information and hands-on experience. The 12 employees in attendance learned about the life cycle of bees, jobs they do such as nurses, builders, cleaners, etc., and how honey is made and how it can be extracted. Besides all the interesting information Jennifer gave us, she also invited us to extract honey from the honeycombs. We uncapped a couple of frames then learned that the honey is extracted using a machine that uses centrifugal force. A few gave that honey a spin then a couple of people scraped the honey to the bottom, and we poured it into small jars. Each participant was able to take home one jar of honey.

Dawson recently began to raise and take care of our bees. We no longer have an outside company to do this. This means more work (for Jennifer) but the experience of doing this really has brought us closer to our bees.

It only took a mere one hour for all of us in attendance to have a newfound respect for what these small insects are able to accomplish in their short lives and really care about the thousands of bees we share our beautiful property with. A great way to learn about these amazing insects and form a strong bond with the world around us.

─Submitted by Carey-Ann Pawsey