Sustainability Grant Project Report
2013 CSU Sustainability Grant recipient
Title of project
Beekeeping facility for learning, research and public education
Project team
Name
Position
Department
Malcolm Bauer
President
Student
Cate Hardy
Secretary
SAVS
Tara Needham
Vice President
Student
Jerome Prax
Treasurer
School of Humanities
Project aims
To create a functioning apiary so that students, staff and the wider community can learn and participate in
beekeeping. This will enable people to keep their own bee hives at home and produce their own honey and
associated products such as bees wax and propolis. The bees also provide a pollination service without which
agricultural pursuits would fail; this extends from the back yard veggie patch to extensive agriculture.
Budget and expenditure
Item
Description / use
Budget
Actual
Main order of
equipment (see
See grant application for details
$2655.90
$2850.79
Warning signs
Warn people of bees on site
$110.00
Beekeeping registration
To register the club with Primary Industries
$60.00
Apiarists Association
Registration
To let the industry know we are here and
receive up to date journal and information.
$65.00
Three reference books
For use of members
$113.20
Three stands for bee
hives
To keep hives off the ground due to an
unanticipated ant problem
$149.10
Second order of
equipment
Parts for building the hives that where missed
in the first round
$587.73
Hardware for building
boxes
Items such as paint, hammers, paint brushes,
immersion tank, set square, pliers, glue.
$202.85
Item
Description / use
TOTAL
Budget
Actual
$4138.67
Project timeline
Step
Description
Timing
1
First equipment order processed
16 Sept 2013
2
Started assembling bee hives
October 2013
3
Completed assembling of bee hives
August 2014
4
Build up bee colonies and catch swarms
October 2014
5
Project outcomes
This project incorporates the community into working with the student and staff population, the club is open to
anyone to join. It is sustainable in that it is more than likely going to produce an income down the track from the
sale of bee products such as honey and pollination services to farmers and home gardens. It is environmentally
sustainable in that it has no adverse effects on the environment.
Amendments to the project
We had to reduce the initial plan to three hives and other modifications due to reduced funds being available and
allocated. Progress in assembly of the hives was slow and the timing did not co inside with the seasons. Therefore
we have not had the chance to catch swarms and build up bee colonies over winter but this is now all set to occur
this spring (October).
Recommendations
Allocate some more funding to increase the number of hives to six and therefore produce more honey to fund the
club.
Photographs