A locally run apiary sitting next to one of Endeavor’s maintenance hangars provides free beekeeping classes to veterans. 

Planes aren’t the only thing taking flight around Minneapolis-St. Paul International Airport. Honeybees have found their own runways in Endeavor Air’s backyard. 

Located outside the Minneapolis maintenance hangar is an apiary run by the University of Minnesota’s ‘Bee Squad.’ The squad, in partnership with the Metropolitan Airports Commission, drives Bee Veterans – a program that provides free beekeeping education to local veterans. 

“For many veterans, the personality and lifestyle they had when in the service carries over to working with bees really well,” said Bee Veterans instructor Ben Ziegler, a researcher at the university’s Spivak Bee Lab – and an Air Force Veteran himself. “You can choose whether to be social or not and can spend a lot of time outside. Ultimately, it’s a hobby that can be soothing and relaxing for veterans and provides a place to slow oneself down and shift out of a troublesome mind space.” 

The Bee Veterans program has operated next to Endeavor’s hangar since 2015 and has formally held classes for veterans since 2016. The program continues to thrive as attendance increases year-over-year, and topics have expanded from basic beekeeping to how to run a beekeeping business. 

“Starting in May, you’ll see us hosting classes out at the apiary once a month,” Ben said. “You’ll also see the team over there about every other week during spring through fall taking care of the bees. We’re checking for diseases, fine-tuning how the frames are set, feeding the bees if they aren’t collecting enough pollen or nectar, and will be doing some minor planting throughout the season.” 

“We want whoever walks past the apiary, whether it is someone from the university, a veteran attending a class, or a technician at the hangar, to enjoy the presence of it,” Ben said. “Please sit out by the bees for lunch or when you have time and enjoy what nature has to offer.”  

If you know a veteran that resides in the Minneapolis area, please encourage them to sign up and register for a free class with Bee Veterans. 

Interested in learning more about beekeeping, how to make your yard more bee-friendly, and other bee related things? Visit the Bee Squad’s website at beelab.umn.edu. 

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To celebrate Earth Day and the upcoming spring and summer seasons, try one of these suggestions from Ben to help increase honeybee activity in your yard: 

• Say no to weed killer in 2024 and let whatever grows in your yard, stay. Perfectly curated lawns look great, but they aren’t great for honeybees and other insects that make up the ecosystem. Dandelions and clover are huge food sources for pollinators. Feel free to mow after the dandelions have been yellow for a few days. 

• Plant an early-blooming fruit tree. Honeyberries and stone fruit trees are great early bloomers. For honeyberries, you’ll be able to harvest them in early summer. For stone fruit trees like plums, you’ll enjoy the blossoms early in the season, but you’ll have to be patient until midsummer to harvest these fruits. 

• Integrate diverse types of grass seeds or plants in your yard and garden this year. The more diversity of plants and flowers there is in your yard, the greater the benefit is for bees, other pollinators, and insect varieties.