As a student-run club, the Beekeeping Club tackles issues that will hopefully solidify its existence at Malvern for years to come.

Beekeeping Club founder, Tommy Bevevino ’20, has grown the Beekeeping Club to a notable extent.

“I’ve had a beekeeping club for the past two years now. I started it in my junior year,” Bevevino said. 

As one of the most unique clubs at Malvern, Beekeeping started with a simple thought.

“I was really interested in beekeeping because I’ve always been someone who enjoys the outdoors and I’m also an environmentalist, so from that perspective I think beekeeping is really attractive, especially at the time of the Save the Bees movement. I felt like that was a tangible way that I could engage with that movement,” Bevevino said. 

Although Bevevino was very enthusiastic about Beekeeping, he thought his passion would lead him in a different direction in the beginning.

“I initially wanted to engage in Beekeeping from a science research perspective, but then I realized how big of an undertaking it was,” Bevevino said. “I thought it would be a really cool thing if I did it rather as a club because then I would have more kids to help me out with stuff and I could also really share a passion that I have with a larger number of people.” 

Bevevino also created a class for J-Term 2020. The class was aided by a commercial Beekeeper, who helped the club. Aware that this was his last year at Malvern, Bevevino wanted to do something to ensure Beekeeping Club’s future existence. 

“So one of the main things that we were doing during the J-Term was we recognized that even though the club has a lot of members and there is a lot of participation, it’s been a little bit of a passion project for me,” Bevevino said. I want the club to have a life of its own after I left the school, so I spoke to a few guys, like a commercial beekeeper who said ‘If you want this club to survive, what you need to do is make it profitable.’” 

The Beekeeping Club made plans to sell their honey in the school store. However, they don’t plan on stopping there. 

“Selling it in the school store is the first way at making it profitable. We also want to have a program to sell to parents, alumni, and possibly local businesses so that we could have a bunch of outlets for the honey we are producing. We are planning on having an eight-ounce bottle cost $15,” Bevevino said. 

The members did much more than think about where to sell their honey during J-Term, though. 

“In terms of building hives and stuff, there’s a ton that we did, but there are still a bunch of steps in terms of marketing materials that we still need to do going further. We are looking forward to producing a website where we can market our products and have more engagement with the community,” Bevevino said.

A member of the Beekeeping Club, Matt Gallo ’22, shares his thoughts on their progress during J-Term. 

“I think that over J-Term, Beekeeping Club completed a lot of important tasks. If we continue to work at the pace we currently are, we will definitely reach our goals,” Gallo said. 

The start of the second semester brings new opportunities for the club’s growth, including a website and additional marketing. Their leader, Tommy Bevevino, only has four more words to say.

“Join the Beekeeping Club.”