The Fort Lewis College Bee Club is still active, even while bees stay in their hives during the colder months. 

During their first meeting of the semester on Jan. 26, the Fort Lewis College Bee Club walked out to the hives on the north end of FLC campus, where the bees are staying in their insulated hives throughout the winter. 

The four hives are stacked frames made of wood, and are winterized with layers of burlap and wrapped insulation, as a sort of ‘puffy jacket’, Morgan Cowan, vice president of Bee Club said. 

The Fort Lewis College Bee Club hives wrapped in insulation.

The honeybees are not adapted to the colder climate here in Durango, so the club works to winterize the hives to increase the bees’ chance of survival, Ryan Schwarz, associate professor of biology and faculty advisor of Bee Club said. 

This insulation has to be warm enough to allow the bees to stay warm, but not too constricting as to allow condensation to form, Schwarz said.

If condensation did form and water dripped down onto the bees, it would be harder for them to stay warm, lowering their chances of survival, Schwarz said. 

“Accumulation of moisture is one of the worst things that can happen,” he said. 

The balance of allowing air flow to prevent condensation while still keeping the bees warm via insulation can be tricky, Schwarz said.

During the colder winter months, the honeybees do not leave their hives, he said.

Although the bees aren’t leaving their hive or buzzing around, they are not dormant or hibernating, he said. Instead, they are awake and living off of the honey they have made throughout the past year, huddling together for warmth and waiting for the temperature to rise, he said.

The emergence of the bees isn’t expected until temperatures stay around 50 degrees Fahrenheit and the bees are able to fly again, Schwarz said. 

Although the bees may not leave the hives for a while, there are many Bee Club activities planned for this semester and into the summer, Cowan said. 

This will include rebuilding wooden frames for the hives and replacing wax foundations with plastic foundations, Dell Caldwell, president of Bee Club said.

Bee Club is still hosting its bi-weekly meetings, every other Monday at 4:30 p.m., Cowan said. The locations are listed on Sky Hub events, they said. Bee Club is a registered student organization II, meaning they are funded in part through student fees. 

They hosted an event on Monday, Feb. 9, including a honey tasting and tea party event, Cowan said. 

The honey tasting included honey from around the world, Schwarz said. These jars of different kinds of honey are lined up on a shelf in Schwarz’s office. 

Other managerial activities this semester include ensuring the bees have enough food and are producing enough honey, Schwarz said.  

If wildflower populations are lower due to drought, Bee Club intervenes to feed the honeybees with supplemental feedings of sugar water, Schwarz said. 

These managerial operations will continue through the summer, ensuring that the bees are producing enough honey to make it through the next winter, Caldwell said.

Bee Club had all of their hives survive last winter in 2025, Schwarz said, but this year, he doesn’t know how many hives will survive.

“I always cross my fingers and cross my toes, because it seems like every year is its own struggle,” he said.

The Fort Lewis College Bee Club hives are stationed on the north end of campus.