I love the outdoors. When I visited Swarthmore for the first time, all the way back in 2022, it was the arboretum that I first fell in love with. Spring foliage adorned Magill Walk in hues of pinks, purples, and greens, filling my heart with blissful delight. Whenever the seasons begin to transition, I always keep several cameras by my side to capture the beauty of campus – a trait I quickly developed through my participation in the Analog Photography Club. Thus, I always made a point to stay in tune with the events being hosted by the Scott Arboretum. 

Pictures from an autumn walk in the Crum with my friend from Analog Club

It was no surprise to me, then, on Friday, September 12th, 2025, to receive a Google Calendar invitation from one of my friends that read: “Honey Tasting. 12:00 PM-1:00 PM. Whittier Meadow.” The Arboretum constantly hosts events of this nature, many of which I have had the pleasure of attending. This, too, would not be my interaction with the honey with respect to the on-campus beehives, as during the summer, I had attended a series of workshops within the Wister Education Center titled “Botany in the Kitchen.” For the week about the Mint Family, we crafted lavender honey and body scrubs from plants around campus. The beehives, themselves, however, I had never worked alongside directly. Therefore, when I arrived at the meadow for the workshop, I was surprised to find myself ushered towards one. 

I arrived slightly earlier than most, primarily because I had been studying in Singer Hall (the biology, engineering, and psychology building), and the meadow was less than a two-minute walk away. Of the people present at that time, a couple were students whom I recognized, while many others were adults employed within the arboretum, including Sue Macqueen, the Scott Arboretum & Gardens campus engagement manager, and two of the beekeepers. As I walked up to the small crowd, one of the beekeepers pointed to me, then scanned his finger across the rest of the crowd, before exclaiming, “Come with me.” Slowly, we followed along as he walked towards the parking lot. To our surprise, sitting beside his car were several beekeeping suits, laid in order of size. At his instruction, we each donned a suit while he explained its purpose and recounted stories of his time beekeeping. Then, we returned to the hive.

First look at the bee suits with a friend of mine 🙂

While those of us in suits handled the bees (looked at them closely in awe), the beekeeper explained to the crowd, which had developed while we were putting on our suits, the mechanisms of the hive, the reasons behind the structures’ shape, and the dynamics between the bees. At one point, we were tasked with helping put the lid on the structure, and as we did, I made a little bee friend. She flew onto my gloved finger and stayed there, keeping her gaze fixed on my face. Five minutes passed, then ten, and yet she remained. I tried guiding her onto different flowers, back into the hive, and onto any other possible surface, but she was too excited about her new spot to move, and I was not going to be the one to ruin her fun. 

The hive, me, and my little bee friend!

Eventually, one of the other beekeepers helped me shift her off my finger, and I rejoined the rest of the group, who had since left the meadow. In the parking lot, I shed my beekeeping suit and joined the circle of people waiting for the honey tasting. We were given explanations of the different flavor palettes and the reasons behind the coloration of different types of honey. For instance, “this next one is buckwheat honey…that does not mean that the bees only consumed buckwheat, but we can assume that most of the nectar they collected came from buckwheat flowers, based on their proximity to this particular hive. You can identify this particular type of honey from its darkened color and its molasses-like flavor. It pairs well with…” The entire event was incredibly engaging, and I had the opportunity to try numerous delicious honeys that I had never tasted before. The honey that we have in the dining hall comes from the beehives on campus, but there is something so special about expanding one’s palette in the form of this tasty, natural sweetener. The honey they presented us with was all harvested locally: also collected from the on-campus hives or from some other local hives in Chester, PA. Personally, I found the fruitier, sweeter honeys the most appealing, but everyone left with their own opinions on the matter. 🙂

Always a lover of a good side-quest, I adore little opportunities like this around campus that allow you to take an hour or so and try something new. Before this semester, I could never have imagined trying beekeeping, of all things, between classes. However, I feel like little activities like this add a certain element of unexpectedness and fun to the day-to-day that truly makes the “college experience” feel complete.

Full-body shot of the beekeeping outfit (ft. my little bee friend on my finger) and a full shot of the meadow with everyone dressed for the occasion.