Seattle prides itself on being bee-friendly.
Last year, the city council banned the use of a type of bee-killing pesticide on public land. In May, Mayor Ed Murray signed a resolution declaring Seattle a “Bee City,” committed to promoting healthy, sustainable habitats for pollinators.
But one group of Seattle honeybees is having a hard time finding a new home.
To make way for construction of a new building, the University of Washington evicted its own hives from campus this fall.
Since September, the refugee bees have been living in instructor Evan Sugden’s backyard in North Seattle, while he scrambles to find them a new home.
“It’s ironic, given all the attention bees are getting these days,” said Sugden, who relies on the hives to teach a hands-on class called Science with Bees. “If things don’t work out, I will just have to cancel my program.”
A university administrator said that while he’s sympathetic to the bees’ plight, they aren’t a high priority compared with the proposed, $160 million Life Sciences complex.
“The bees are a wonderful amenity, but our mission in biology is much bigger than that,” said Biology Department Chairman Toby Bradshaw. “We’re an urban campus and space is at a premium.”
Sugden, a part-time instructor, installed his first hive at the UW about a decade ago. When he launched the beekeeping program five years ago, he expanded to a full-blown apiary. Ten to 12 hives were tucked into a shrubby corner near the UW’s 1950s-era greenhouse, which is slated for demolition and replacement.
The bee program has always operated on a shoestring budget. Local beekeepers donated much of the equipment. A few years ago Sugden raised $2,250, and his class sells honey every year.
