Producers
Kalamazoo Valley Community College Apiary
educational apiary · urban apiary · honey producer
Food Innovation Center, Bronson Healthy Living Campus, Kalamazoo Valley Community College
Kalamazoo Valley Community College
Kalamazoo Valley Community College operates an educational urban apiary at its Food Innovation Center in Kalamazoo, Michigan. The apiary serves as a demonstration lab for noncredit beekeeping classes offered with the Kalamazoo Bee Club, where participants work with hives and harvest honey.
About the Producer
A little history
The Food Innovation Center was built in 2015 as part of the Bronson Healthy Living Campus. In 2023, its apiary had active colonies managed by Kalamazoo Bee Club volunteers and participants in Kalamazoo Valley beekeeping courses. The apiary maintained as many as nine hives that season and harvested more than 200 pounds of honey.
How They Work
Beekeeping in practice
This college-operated educational and demonstration apiary is part of the Food Innovation Center urban farm. It supports community noncredit beekeeping courses in collaboration with the Kalamazoo Bee Club, with participants helping maintain colonies and harvest honey. The broader Food Innovation Center serves as a living lab for training, community education, and food-system programming.
Where They Work
Location and reach
Food Innovation Center, Bronson Healthy Living Campus, Kalamazoo Valley Community College
Food Innovation Center, 224 E. Crosstown Parkway, Kalamazoo, Michigan, United States
KVCC lists the Food Innovation Center at this Kalamazoo location; ValleyHUB identifies it as a KVCC facility.
Food Innovation Center urban farm, Kalamazoo, Michigan, United States
ValleyHUB identifies the FIC urban farm as containing an apiary, and the Apiary page states that beekeeping participants work in those hives and harvest honey.
Kalamazoo, Michigan, United States
The documented 2023 honey harvest came from the Food Innovation Center apiary in Kalamazoo.
Products & Specimens
What connects to this producer
Products listed by the Producer are kept separate from specimens held in the Collection.
Food Innovation Center Apiary honey (2023 harvest; no formal product name documented)
Documented origin: Food Innovation Center apiary, Kalamazoo, Michigan, United States
Origin detail: Locality
KVCC’s official 2023 recap states that honey was harvested from the Food Innovation Center apiary. It does not name a floral source, identify a branded retail product, or establish an origin more specific than the apiary location.
People
People connected to the work
- Rachel Bair Director for Sustainable Food Systems
- Charlotte Hubbard Beekeeping course instructor
Practices
How they work
- The apiary is used as a demonstration lab for community noncredit beekeeping classes conducted in collaboration with the Kalamazoo Bee Club.
- Participants work in the hives to keep colonies healthy and harvest honey.
- Beekeepers conduct regular hive inspections to identify and treat hive issues.
- In 2023, colonies were managed with Kalamazoo Bee Club volunteers and course participants; colonies were split and the apiary reached nine hives at peak season.
Curator Note
Student apiary.