A new colony of bees have been placed in Brody Neighborhood.

The bees arrived April 6 and were delivered to the green roof of Bailey Hall. Bailey Hall’s green roof has been functioning for two years now, and this is the newest project that the green roof will take on.

They will be part of the Bailey Urban Farm and are being used for a honey bee education project, taking place in the urban setting of MSU.

The project was made possible through months of planning and funding by the Office of Sustainability.

The main driving force behind the project is  Laurie Thorp, the Residential Initiative on the Study of the Environment, program director, and she said she believes the project will be an educational opportunity for the students on campus.

“Our primary purpose is to educate students and the general public about the importance of bees in a healthy ecosystem,” Thorp said. “Without bees, we would have a very challenging time being able to sustain a healthy agricultural system. I’m really excited about the students being able to interact with the bees, because they will be able to be educated about the importance of bees in our ecosystem.”

Thorp also said the project could lower the anxiety and concerns students have about bees.

“I absolutely believe that this project will be a success,” Thorp said. “Bees are fascinating to watch, and I believe that as the project goes on, students will begin to see that bees are not aggressive, and begin to focus on how interesting they are. Bee behavior is so amazing. I bet people don’t know that bees do a waggle dance to communicate with each other.”

There may even be a possibility the honey from the bees could be used in the dining halls around campus.

“Oh that would be a great dream,” Thorp said. “But we do have offers from others, requesting to buy comb honey from us, and when we do end up with surplus honey, we end up selling it at local farm stands.”