Bucknell has recently been abuzz about the Engineering College’s E-Week. From the insane dodge-ball tournament to the banners outside of Dana Engineering, everyone has heard something about the event, to the point where many wish their own departments and organizations would start something similar. And one group decided to do exactly that, with the Biology Club creating Bee-Week.

Now, what is Bee-Week you might ask? Is it a play on biology? Is the event similar to E-Week? The answer is: sort of. Bee-Week is full of fun activities for students and faculty in and outside of the department, occurring the same mid-February week as it’s engineering focused cousin, and it’s entirely themed around bees! It may seem strange to focus a whole slew of events around those lovely little black and yellow insects that are more often found in the warmer months than the middle of winter, but they hold an important role in the ecosystem that Biology Club thinks should be celebrated.

And what better way to honor them than through interactive activities and guest speaker appearances! A speaking event on Monday showcased some student research on bees and their behaviors. Two guest speakers participated in the event, Dr. Honey Beely, an entomologist who specializes in bee-ology, and beekeeper Piper Hive. The turnout wasn’t high, but it was offset by the swarms of students that went to Tuesday night’s Trivia and Spelling-Bee event, with every question being centered around, you guessed it: bees!

On Wednesday, there was a Farmers Market on the lawn in front of Rooke Science. The Biology Club invited local small businesses and fresh produce vendors to sell their wares, but due to weather and some issues with school licensing, the market was a bust. Thursday saw another presentation, and then it was Friday and time for the big event: the Honey Collection Contest.

At the event, students signed up as teams of three to collect fresh honey from some of Piper Hive’s live hives that were brought to campus and set up in the Field House. While one student mans the smoker to relax the bees, the other two work to collect the honey from the honeycomb frames, and whichever team collected the most after 15 minutes was the winner. Or at least, they would have been, if one team’s smoker hadn’t malfunctioned and allowed for bees to swarm around the building. People started to flee the building in a panic, making other teams drop their smokers and accidentally knock over their bee boxes, allowing even more bees to fly loose and overtake the space. Few people got hurt in the mad dash to escape, most injuries being minor stings or bruising. But the Field House had to be shut down, facilities needing time to figure out how to remove all the bees before they could make new hives in the vents. With all the chaos and honey that was spilled in the madness, we can only be glad that no bears were attracted to the sticky mess.