Beekeepers will toast with beer to the construction of a new bee lab on campus.
First Magnitude Brewing Company, located at 1220 SE Veitch St., will host Bees and Brews, a fundraising event for UF bee research, Friday from 4 p.m. to 9 p.m., said Ben Guzman, the event coordinator at the brewery. Tickets are available in increments of $10, $15 and $20 depending on the amount of beer and freebies offered. Visitors will be able to sample honey, eat honey-infused foods and drink beer at the event.
The money will be used to build the UF Bee Lab, which is scheduled to break ground near Southwest Recreation Center in September but may be postponed due to Hurricane Irma, said Mickey Schafer, the communications secretary of the Gainesville Area Bee Club.
Guzman expects more than 110 people to attend the event.
“We have a very strong ecologically minded base here,” Guzman said.
The Florida Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services and UF will donate $2.5 million if the Florida State Beekeepers Association raises $200,000, Schafer said.
The event sponsors — The Gainesville Area Beekeepers, FSBA and the UF Bee Lab — research declining populations of bee colonies.
Susan Harris, a master craftsman beekeeper, said the lab will find new ways to raise strong colonies.
“Honey bees are dying at rates that have never been seen in the past,” Harris said. “Trying to keep the bees healthy, that’s giant.”
