Lehigh University
IN-25: Innovation B

In the Spring of 2018 a live feed bee camera was installed to monitor Lehigh’s beehives on Mountaintop Campus. The streaming feed allows the Beekeeping Club to not only remotely observe and monitor the hives for swarms, bears, weather, and other activity, but it also helps promote awareness of bees and their impact on the environment to the Lehigh community and beyond. The Beekeeping Club was established by students in 2014 to raise awareness about the important role honeybees play in the environment and to promote sustainability. The Club helps to educate and inform the Lehigh community about colony collapse disorder and the widespread disappearance of bees. In April 2018, the Club installed two new beehives in a low foot traffic area on Mountaintop Campus and one new beehive on Goodman Campus in the University’s Community Garden. The outdoor live feed camera was made possible thanks to a GreenFund grant as well as the collaborative efforts of the LTS Network Engineering and Systems Engineering teams. The Beekeeping Club was awarded an $1,800 GreenFund grant to fund the purchase of the outdoor wildlife video camera. To view the Lehigh Bee Cam, anyone can visit the following URL: https://stream.lehigh.edu/beecam This project is an example of how Lehigh students, faculty, and staff utilize the campus as a living laboratory to learn more about bees and beekeeping. Through GreenFund projects like this, students educate, inform, and help to create sustainable change on campus and in the local community.